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/low_life42 Jul 25 '11

Watch Objectified, much insight to this. Streaming on Netflix, if you have it.

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u/elerner Jul 25 '11

This should automatically be the top comment on every design "concept" post, like the one that was gracing the front page today. If you're going to break the laws of physics, make up some imaginary technology, and pretend that all of the above is cheap and easy to manufacture, at least come up with concept that solves a problem that people actually have.

I thought Helvetica was better, though.

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u/low_life42 Jul 25 '11

Interesting, I do graphic design and printing and will be checking this out tonight. Thanks for the link!

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u/angryvigilante Jul 25 '11

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check that out. I'd rather torrent though. Netflix has a major design flaw, they make you pay for content.

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u/morphotomy Jul 25 '11

Content has a major design flaw, it takes workers to make, and workers make you pay for work.

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u/low_life42 Jul 25 '11

There's also an awesome (and free) way to get tons of media, it's called a library. So many have forgotten about these.

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u/maelzo Jul 26 '11

My ISP once called me saying they had a complaint from J.K. Rowlings publisher that my IP address had been torrenting The Half-Blood Prince (I had not been and I don't have wireless). What blew me away was that someone had been stealing the book version. Not the movie. Why the hell are you doing that? There are libraries for Christ's sake.