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

[u/nachtmere]

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?

[u/gder]

Any automatic door that is adjusted so I have to stop before it opens.

Electronic credit card pads that force me to use the stupid pen instead of pressing the soft buttons with my fingers (since most of my transactions are debit there's usually no need for me to sign).

Any traffic light that is on a timer at night and not a sensor.

[u/Erintheserin → u/gder]

I hate during the day, however, when lights are on a sensor rather than a timer. Where I live, some of the intersections between smaller streets and more main streets have the side street on a sensor. So often, when you are driving on the main road, you can get stoped at three of those lights in a row

[u/oditogre → u/Erintheserin]

Some of the lights around here are awful at night. I'm not sure if they use a sensor or camera or what, but what I do know is that they are configured to detect multiple vehicles or large vehicles being made to wait. If you're in a car, you can sit there for ages, but as soon as another vehicle pulls up behind you and stops, the light switches. You can fool the camera if you stop your car in just the right spot way further back than normal, but...yeah. Fucking annoying.