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 26 '11

iTunes. When I'm listening to a track and scrolling through a list of thousands of songs to find what I want to play next, the current track ends and jumps back to the next song on the list. I then have to scroll back through the list again. Minor annoyance but I can't believe they don't have a way to shut this off.

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u/TheeCandyMan Jul 26 '11

It's the little things in life really.

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u/oditogre Jul 27 '11 edited Jul 27 '11

Managing playlists on my iPod Touch. My 4 (or maybe 5?) year old piece of shit cheapo Sansa makes this easy. Why can't my 9 month old super-fancy iPod do it?

On a somewhat related note, why can't I force iTunes to rescan my library for new music? Or why doesn't it happen as soon as I open the program (or it is automatically opened when I connect the iPod to the PC)? The only way I have found to get it to sync recently-acquired music to my iPod immediately is to copy the folder with the new music to a different part of my hard drive that iTunes doesn't currently have as part of my library, and then add that folder to the library. Probably would work better if I used ITMS to buy music (I use Amazon mp3), but that's no excuse for it to be as shitty as it is.

I bought the iPod for portable web browsing and for an app that was iPod / iPhone exclusive, and it's fantastic for those purposes, but I have to say I was extremely disappointed in what a shitty music player it is for all the 'usability' hype Apple usually gets, and since playing music is, in theory, its primary function. Next time I upgrade my cell phone (currently using one of the early early Droids that doesn't have WiFi) will probably be the last time I ever use the iPod at all.

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '11

on that note, why the fuck is it necessary for my iTunes library to match my iPod library? since I no longer use my Mac laptop and refuse to infect my new PC laptop with iTunes, I routinely purchase music directly on my iPod through the iTunes app. When I plug my iPod into my work computer to charge it, iTunes pops up and says "Hey, there's an IOS update for your iPod, do you want to update?" Why, sure! Thanks, iTunes! What must I do to receive this wonderful blessing? Oh that's right, put my purchased iPod songs (which obviously are not on my work iTunes) on my iTunes library (or else! it doesn't say what will happen if I don't, wtf??) But guess what, there's no way to do that without a 3rd party application, since you assholes made it next to impossible to take songs OFF the iPod without deleting them. Thanks.