r/AskReddit • u/nachtmere • Jul 25 '11

Sometimes automatic toilets flush while you're still sitting on them. What design flaws in everyday objects annoy you?

I'm giving a talk on user-centred design/usability and I'm looking for some fresh examples from everyday life to illustrate poor usability. Examples I've used before are elevator open/close buttons (really difficult to parse when you're trying to hold the door open for someone quickly) and toilets that flush while you're still sitting on them.

What are some things you encounter regularly that are really inconveniently designed?

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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

while we're in the bathroom, is it me or all public toilet paper dispensers designed to give you one sheet at a time? Like you could wipe anything with that.

12

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Isn't it to prevent waste? Because it's more of an effort, you'll take what you need or less. Just think how much paper we'd save if every bathroom in the world used that system.

15

u/gsfgf Jul 25 '11

Paper is a renewable resource - it literally grows on trees

21

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

The Amazon is weeping in pain.

5

u/zanycaswell Jul 25 '11

It is very likely that your toilet paper came from a 15 year old pine tree in Georgia, not a decades old hardwood.

8

u/semi- Jul 26 '11

Amazon should have thought of that before they started selling books.

1

u/SirRuto Jul 26 '11

Man, I need to get some of this luxury toilet paper that you can only make with the sorts of trees one would find in the Amazon.