Examples of bad design

[dangie]

Wilko LED light bulbs where the lifetime claim is up to 25 years.
’They only lasted 6 months’
’Yes….. we said they’d last UP TO 25 years, not they would last 25 years…..

 

[DaleCooper]

On a similar theme to this.
I recently used a 500g pack of rice, the cooking instructions were given for 90g as a portion yet the packet states that it contains 5 portions.

Did you check that there was 500g in the packet and not 450g?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Feb 2023 ==

Wilko LED light bulbs where the lifetime claim is up to 25 years.
’They only lasted 6 months’
’Yes….. we said they’d last UP TO 25 years, not they would last 25 years…..

A consequence of the bathtub curve.

 

[pdeaves]

Until we changed it, our bathroom sink was poor design. There was an all round rim, a bit inside the rim where the taps were mounted, then the sink proper. When fitted properly, the rim all round was perfectly level. Just inside the rim sloped backwards, not much but enough to cause any splashes to congregate at the back and fester. It was very difficult to keep clean. Lesson learned, we specified a forward slope on the replacement, even if it meant mounting it slightly 'wonky'.

 

[dgl]

White static caravans, absolute pain to clean the outside and I've done a few.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Until we changed it, our bathroom sink was poor design. There was an all round rim, a bit inside the rim where the taps were mounted, then the sink proper. When fitted properly, the rim all round was perfectly level. Just inside the rim sloped backwards, not much but enough to cause any splashes to congregate at the back and fester. It was very difficult to keep clean. Lesson learned, we specified a forward slope on the replacement, even if it meant mounting it slightly 'wonky'.

Most bathrooms have poor design, with the pan being too close to the wall, or worse the radiator, for a large male user to sit comfortably. This also extends to train toilets.

 

[32475]

I was on one of the newly refurbished Avanti Pendolinos the other day and I found the interior brighter and a feeling of slightly more spaciousness and than its previous incarnation. The seats were surprisingly comfortable and well designed BUT the fold down seat back table as a major design flaw in not having an upstand lip around the edge. This resulted in my water bottle vibrating off the table more than once (thankfully it wasn’t a cup of coffee).
This design is such a simple and obvious fault and I can’t imagine how this fell through the net.

 

[gabrielhj07]

I was on one of the newly refurbished Avanti Pendolinos the other day and I found the interior brighter and a feeling of slightly more spaciousness and than its previous incarnation. The seats were surprisingly comfortable and well designed BUT the fold down seat back table as a major design flaw in not having an upstand lip around the edge. This resulted in my water bottle vibrating off the table more than once (thankfully it wasn’t a cup of coffee).
This design is such a simple and obvious fault and I can’t imagine how this fell through the net.
View attachment 129547

No indented cup holder space either.

 

[McRhu]

The turntables in microwave ovens which derail at the slighted touch and refuse to go back on straight.

 

[yorksrob]

I was on one of the newly refurbished Avanti Pendolinos the other day and I found the interior brighter and a feeling of slightly more spaciousness and than its previous incarnation. The seats were surprisingly comfortable and well designed BUT the fold down seat back table as a major design flaw in not having an upstand lip around the edge. This resulted in my water bottle vibrating off the table more than once (thankfully it wasn’t a cup of coffee).
This design is such a simple and obvious fault and I can’t imagine how this fell through the net.
View attachment 129547

No indented cup holder space either.

Designed by someone who's never been on a train presumably.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

No indented cup holder space either.

Unless the train is extremely smooth riding, those are beyond useless anyway. They're only a couple of millimetres deep so won't stop your cup bouncing or sliding around. In fact they make it more likely to tip up when it slides into the edge of the indentation.

 

[dgl]

Devices that use USB-A to USB-A cables, HDD caddies and my laptop cooler are two such devices that use them for no real apparent reason, at least the cables themselves are relatively cheap and easy to obtain.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Devices that use USB-A to USB-A cables, HDD caddies and my laptop cooler are two such devices that use them for no real apparent reason, at least the cables themselves are relatively cheap and easy to obtain.

They're a bit more durable than the atrocious 'mini USB' connections which are an awful design that so easily gets bent out of shape. Thankfully they're slowly but surely being phased out.

 

[yorksrob]

They're a bit more durable than the atrocious 'mini USB' connections which are an awful design that so easily gets bent out of shape. Thankfully they're slowly but surely being phased out.

And don't forget the dreadful micro USB.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

And don't forget the dreadful micro USB.

I think we're talking about the same thing. Mini/micro are basically synonyms as far as I'm concerned. There's another thing for the "things you would ban" thread!

 

[dosxuk]

Mini and micro USB are two different connectors - mini being the earlier version, with micro fixing it's biggest issues.

From left to right:
* Micro USB
* (ignore, random proprietary variation of mini USB)
* Mini USB
* USB-A socket
* USB-A
* USB-B

(picture from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware)

The mini had two major design issues - too much spring in the contacts meaning they could pretty easily get damaged; and that the retention springs were in the device, so when they wore out it required the device to be replaced, not the cheap cable.

 

[maniacmartin]

I think you will find that almost without exception, they are designed to fail safe (which is a lot better than many plug-in chargers that are in use).
The sockets that I've just installed also comply with the latest rules in that with nothing plugged in they draw less than 100mW.

I hear they make it difficult for electricians to test the resistance of the circuit though, as the USB charger can't be disconnected. Maybe the newer models don't have this problem though?

Our shower is above a bath. And I'm not sure if installing a glass screen/door is feasible (quite apart from the financial aspect), as our upstairs bathroom is quite compact (the edge of the sink butts up against the edge of the bath for instance)[...]

My old flat had a similar layout, but it didn't stop the previous owner from installing a fixed glass screen at the shower end of the bath. The problem was that they left a 1cm gap between the screen and a built in unit thing with no way of accessing it to clean it...

Did you check that there was 500g in the packet and not 450g?

My guess is the portion sizes were originally specified in imperial. A 1lb (454g) packet could have 4 portions. Then they change the packet to be a round metric number and don't update the portion sizes.

Until we changed it, our bathroom sink was poor design. There was an all round rim, a bit inside the rim where the taps were mounted, then the sink proper. When fitted properly, the rim all round was perfectly level. Just inside the rim sloped backwards, not much but enough to cause any splashes to congregate at the back and fester. It was very difficult to keep clean.

I have a sink with this issue. Mould loves to grow on the silicon sealant there! Despite the awfully tacky website, I have found that a product called "Mould Magic Extreme" works well.

Here's a few nominations off the top of my head:

Cooker clocks that make it hard to set the time after a power cut

The speed limiter/cruise control in my car. It adjusts in increments of 5km/h or 1mph, and if you press the button too quickly it will ignore some of the presses. Why can't it go up in increments of 10mph? (I know someone is going to come back and say so you can set it at 72mph on the motorway to match an actual 70mph speed as read from a GPS, but still I find it annoying).

Any time a manufacturer deliberately doesn't follow convention or standard to make you buy their proprietary chargers, cables, accessories etc. - e.g. device that has a DB9 serial connector but does not use the Cisco pin layout. Although they might argue its better that way...

 

[stuartl]

Wilko LED light bulbs where the lifetime claim is up to 25 years.
’They only lasted 6 months’
’Yes….. we said they’d last UP TO 25 years, not they would last 25 years…..

I think the problem is that the actual led's do have a life of 25 years, but it's the driver circuit that fails first, especially with the cheaper designs.

 

[AM9]

I hear they make it difficult for electricians to test the resistance of the circuit though, as the USB charger can't be disconnected. Maybe the newer models don't have this problem though?

It depends on which resistance test is being performed. If measuring a ring circuit loop resistance (which should be a matter of milliohms) the circuit of a USB power supply doesn't affect it. If it is insulation resistance line to neutral, then it will probably fail, but during installation, it would be simple to bypass that socket outlet. That reminds me of when I replaced my consumer unit and 'updated' a previous owners 'DIY efforts'. I was so pleased that I managed to borrow an in-calibration 500V Megger, - trouble was it took out the neon indicators where they were fitted.

 

[Acey]

Tin cans,where it's difficult to read the "best before " dates cos there printed on a ring pull etc( Heinz I'm looking at you )

 

[pdeaves]

Road vehicles where the red lights form a ring around the indicator (some buses in particular; I can't off hand think of a car like this). It's extremely hard in some lighting conditions to see whether the indicator is flashing or not.

 

[MotCO]

It's not just the rear lights - front indicators are hard to see at night when headlights are on - the indicators always seem to be placed too close to the headlights.

 

[DaleCooper]

It's not just the rear lights - front indicators are hard to see at night when headlights are on - the indicators always seem to be placed too close to the headlights.

We need to go back to trafficators. Who remembers them?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

We need to go back to trafficators. Who remembers them?

Just how old do you reckon that most of us on here, are?

 

[stuartl]

Just how old do you reckon that most of us on here, are?

Unfortunately I can just remember them.

 

[dangie]

We need to go back to trafficators. Who remembers them?

You’ll be going back to vacuum operated windscreen wipers next…!! When the accelerator was pressed the wipers slowed down.

 

[MotCO]

We need to go back to trafficators. Who remembers them?

Why were trafficators invented - surely the flashing indicator was much simpler from a design point of view.

 

[edwin_m]

Now almost all indicators use LEDs, it would be really simple to change the flashing pattern when they are used as hazard lights - a double short flash for example. That way, if you can only see one side of the vehicle at the side of the road, you could tell whether it was signalling to turn out or just identifying itself as hazardous.

 

[Ken X]

We need to go back to trafficators. Who remembers them?

Oh yes. My job, as a nipper, was to belt the inside of the B post to unstick the nearside trafficator when me dad shouted it had stuck down.
My wife's current car is a bit posher. The sidelights flash when a turn is indicated. Unsurprisingly it confuses people occasionally.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

We need to go back to trafficators.

Certainly be an improvement for BMWs, as whatever type of indicators it is that they currently have, they don't ever seem to work properly.

 

[AM9]

Why were trafficators invented - surely the flashing indicator was much simpler from a design point of view.

The trafficator was mounted in the pillar between the front and rear doors (what is called the 'B' pillar now) and it appeard in a similar position to a driver's hand signal so was easier to, be noticed. Flashing indicators required lamps and a flasher unit, - sounds trivial, but these things were not generally available in the 1930s.