Examples of bad design

[gg1]

The power button on my current work laptop (Microsoft Surface 4) is integrated into the keyboard to the left of the delete button rather than being a separate button outside the keyboard like every other laptop I've ever used. If you're a bit clutzy you can easily put the laptop into sleep mode when intending to hit delete, pic below (not my laptop but keyboard layout is identical).

 

[py_megapixel]

The power button on my current work laptop (Microsoft Surface 4) is integrated into the keyboard to the left of the delete button rather than being a separate button outside the keyboard like every other laptop I've ever used. If you're a bit clutzy you can easily put the laptop into sleep mode when intending to hit delete, pic below (not my laptop but keyboard layout is identical).

That is indeed a stupid place to put the power button. I think there is some way to reconfigure it in the Windows settings to do some sort of confirmation dialogue when the button is pressed rather than just sleeping immediately, which might help? (Couldn't tell you exactly how, I'm not currently using a Windows computer)

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've got one of those as my work machine and have never hit it by accident. My other machine is a MacBook Pro and that has it above delete, and I've similarly never hit that by accident either.

The only issue I've found with "soft" power buttons on machines without a removable battery is that if it crashes properly to the extent that even the hardware interrupts don't work you have to wait hours for the battery to run down before you can reboot. This is very rare but it's happened on my iPad (but not either laptop).

 

[43096]

I've got one of those as my work machine and have never hit it by accident. My other machine is a MacBook Pro and that has it above delete, and I've similarly never hit that by accident either.

The only issue I've found with "soft" power buttons on machines without a removable battery is that if it crashes properly to the extent that even the hardware interrupts don't work you have to wait hours for the battery to run down before you can reboot. This is very rare but it's happened on my iPad (but not either laptop).

My work laptop has the Ctrl and Fn keys in the bottom left corner of the keyboard the other way round i.e. Fn Ctrl. Every other keyboard ever has them as Ctrl Fn - which idiot thought swapping them was a good idea?

 

[Jamiescott1]

Those 3 in 1 hand washing stations in public toilets - you weren't paying attention and missed the water and now you need to wait for the machine to go through the entire routine again!

I think they're bad design as it means people spend more time in front of them as they have to wash them dry their hands in the same place. Meaning if waiting for a free sink you have to wait longer

 

[Broucek]

Another vote for metal teapots that leak

And Microsoft. I am ambidextrous and like a left handed mouse and right handed track pad. Not possible…. (It used to be)

 

[Stan63]

Recently I’ve been finishing off Christmas chocolates and notice how many boxes of chocolates have the guide to chocolate on the bottom of the box.

I bought a Tesco cook in the bag chicken at Christmas and the cooking instructions were printed on the bottom of the bag. No way back if you put it in the oven, forget the cooking time and want to have a quick glance at the instructions again.

Stan

 

[Sorcerer]

Examples of bad design? Can I nominate the Las Vegas Loop? Or is that too generalised/too big for this thread?

 

[SHD]

My work laptop has the Ctrl and Fn keys in the bottom left corner of the keyboard the other way round i.e. Fn Ctrl. Every other keyboard ever has them as Ctrl Fn - which idiot thought swapping them was a good idea?

There’s generally an option to swap them back. But I agree, it is a pain in the derrière.

 

[dgl]

The power button on my current work laptop (Microsoft Surface 4) is integrated into the keyboard to the left of the delete button rather than being a separate button outside the keyboard like every other laptop I've ever used. If you're a bit clutzy you can easily put the laptop into sleep mode when intending to hit delete, pic below (not my laptop but keyboard layout is identical).

View attachment 128014

My MSI places the power button as the last key on the function row, now as for accidentally touching it it's not an issue as a short/quick press does nothing and needs to be pressed for ~4 seconds to bring up the shutdown swipe screen. The one issue is that if the keyboard is not present or stops working then you can't turn it on, something that was nearly an issue for me as a water spill means half the keyboard doesn't work, luckily that button is one that does.
Also with it being a touchscreen laptop that can be flipped you end up with no usable power button if it is flipped, annoying if it goes to sleep when it is flipped and you have to shut it and reopen it to turn it back on, my other two similar laptops (a Dell and Asus) had the power button on the side.

And from my keyboard playing background, 3.5mm MIDI connections, 5 pin connectors are not that large and there are already standards for using PS/2 mini dins instead, whereas there are two standards for 3.5mm jack connectors.

 

[JD2168]

Morrisons beef joints, the instructions/cooking time are on the back of the label which you have to peel off but is largely unreadable when you have done this.

 

[MotCO]

Another vote for toilet washbasins and handdriers operated by invisible, hard to find sensors.

Whilst on this subject, the number of toilet blocks which do not show the way out. Of particular note are the toilets in John Lewis at Bluewater, where there are a number of cupboard doors all looking the same, while the door for the way out is tucked round the corner with no notice on it.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

The seal on sauce bottles.
You pull up the little plastic tab, pull, tab and foil come off.
Success you think.
Not so fast, you now have a piece of plastic film covering the opening and no way to remove it other than poking it with a knife, other sharp objects are available.

 

[Broucek]

The seal on sauce bottles.
You pull up the little plastic tab, pull, tab and foil come off.
Success you think.
Not so fast, you now have a piece of plastic film covering the opening and no way to remove it other than poking it with a knife, other sharp objects are available.

This!

 

[Northumbriana]

Pavement and cycle lane clutter. Like when someone decides to place a sign post or some sort of box type structure right in the middle of a pavement rather than beside it.

 

[gg1]

I've got one of those as my work machine and have never hit it by accident. My other machine is a MacBook Pro and that has it above delete, and I've similarly never hit that by accident either.

I've hit it a few times in the year or so I've had it, including once when I was dialled in to a meeting.

My MSI places the power button as the last key on the function row, now as for accidentally touching it it's not an issue as a short/quick press does nothing and needs to be pressed for ~4 seconds to bring up the shutdown swipe screen.

Not the case on mine unfortunately, a single press send the laptop goes into sleep mode.

 

[pdeaves]

My cycle pannier has a loop thing on it, on which to fix a light. Great. Except that when you close the lid, it partially covers the light. I wouldn't mind so much if I had some obscure-shaped light design but what I have is pretty standard.

 

[Fyldeboy]

Standardize mobile phone chargers please. That would be good design!

By 'standardize', I assume you mean 'make all the same'? That was the idea, even Apple sort of agreed on USB, but USB has had to change as phones got thinner and our expectations got bigger. If USB stays where it is now, it will seem pathetic in 5 years time.

 

[Bevan Price]

Websites that give you thousands of bits of information when all that the vast majority of people are looking for is

A) what are your opening hours
B) what’s your postcode

c) What is your email address ?.
I don't want something labelled "contact details" link that tells you everything but an email address.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Mobile phones that are just slightly too big to fit in any normal-sized pocket.

 

[DaleCooper]

Mobile phones that are just slightly too big to fit in any normal-sized pocket.

Haven't you noticed, everyone carries their phone and stares at it continuously? Who needs pockets?

 

[alxndr]

Mobile phones that are just slightly too big to fit in any normal-sized pocket.

And pockets which are too small to be functional.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Mobile phones that are just slightly too big to fit in any normal-sized pocket.

People don't buy sensibly sized ones, sadly. The iPhone Mini is to me a perfect size but it's been discontinued as it's not selling. And there are hardly any good small Android phones.

 

[DaleCooper]

And pockets which are too small to be functional.

Who chooses your clothes for you?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Who chooses your clothes for you?

Trouser pockets are a fairly standard size.

 

[WizCastro197]

People don't buy sensibly sized ones, sadly. The iPhone Mini is to me a perfect size but it's been discontinued as it's not selling. And there are hardly any good small Android phones.

You can still buy the 13 mini, just no 14 version, as you said, it wasn't selling.

iPhone

Designed for Apple Intelligence. Discover the new iPhone 16e along with iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 and iPhone 15.

www.apple.com

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can still buy the 13 mini, just no 14 version, as you said, it wasn't selling.

iPhone

Designed for Apple Intelligence. Discover the new iPhone 16e along with iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 and iPhone 15.

www.apple.com

Yeah, got a 13 Mini. Likely to keep it a few years, but when I do change it my choices are very limited. It's an excellent phone, about the right size, excellent battery life, quick charge and very robust. Probably the best phone I have had. (I'm not obsessive about Apple vs Android, I decide each time and tend to flip flop between them).

 

[WizCastro197]

Yeah, got a 13 Mini. Likely to keep it a few years, but when I do change it my choices are very limited. It's an excellent phone, about the right size, excellent battery life, quick charge and very robust.

I have 13 mini too, even better with that MagSafe charger thing, heavily overpriced though. I have quite large hands, and I still find mini easy to use.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

People don't buy sensibly sized ones, sadly. The iPhone Mini is to me a perfect size but it's been discontinued as it's not selling. And there are hardly any good small Android phones.

Yep, that's what I found. I recently had to get a new phone (old one kept running out of storage and I'd deleted everything I reasonably could), and a source of some frustration was that in the intervening 5 and a half years, everything seems to have got bigger so it was now next to impossible to find something decent that is actually pocket-sized.

 

[birchesgreen]

I am dreading the day my beloved 13 mini comes to the end of the road, hopefully a few years away yet.