Wrong kind of loaves.I have a toaster that is very slightly too small for the majority of sliced loaves.
Wrong kind of loaves.I have a toaster that is very slightly too small for the majority of sliced loaves.
The Qwerty keyboard is good design for touch typists, it is rare that it slows you down because of key location,
to see an example where it fails tfy typing the word monopoly and see how much that slows you down,
I have a toaster that is very slightly too small for the majority of sliced loaves.
A lot of screens seem to be like that; they rely on a remote control to do certain functions.I still have a component CD player that cannot fast forward through a song/track via the buttons on the front, you need the remote to do that.
A common problem. A toaster isn’t rocket science. At the very least it should be able to accept a slice of bread.I have a toaster that is very slightly too small for the majority of sliced loaves.
Increasingly hifi needs to be controlled by an app on a phone or tablet. Which is a pain given passcodes. I've actually kept an old phone that never leaves the house (so no passcode) just to control the musicA lot of screens seem to be like that; they rely on a remote control to do certain functions.
Another bit of interesting audio bad design that I've recently been made aware of was a range of later Grundig Fine Arts Hi-Fi components, the XXX-IR series, these units only have power in and out and any unit specific inputs on each unit and actually are connected together using IR signals, with sensors/transmitters on the front corners. The are many systems which use proprietary wired interconnects between units but no others that use IR.
I think most of them are.I have a toaster that is very slightly too small for the majority of sliced loaves.
There are people who only care what something looks like and won't care that you cannot change things, Amstrad made a business out if selling systems that looked like separates but were actually all in one box.That's bizarre, given that the market for hi-fi separates entirely surrounds the idea that you make up the system you want from a combination of components which may or may not be from the same company and thus need to follow standards for input and output. If restricted in that way, why not just buy a single system?
That includes my Meridian 208, fortunately I don't use headphones.All audio products that don't have headphone sockets on the front !
Very good.Wrong kind of loaves.
Second this one! Applies to some housing estates as well (now, where’s the main road?) I leave it up to you as to whether the comparison stops there…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.
Yes, even keyboards are a pain in that respects, only my GEM S2 has a front mounted headphone socket, though home organs usually have front mounted headphone sockets.All audio products that don't have headphone sockets on the front !
I’ll kick off with certain types of paving stones. Councils seem to spend a fortune on paving slabs rather than just normal tarmac, yet quite often, as soon as it rains, they become really slippy and you have to tread quite gingerly. As soon as there is black ice, well…
Any other bugbears?
Agreed. I have a Panasonic television with the headphone socket buried somewhere at the back. Totally impossible to access without taking the TV off the wall. I don’t use headphones but that’s not really the point.All audio products that don't have headphone sockets on the front !
But as I mentioned in an earlier post to this thread, councils often lay fancy slabs which look good on a designers drawing board, but when they get damaged the council either hasn’t got any spares or they’ve gone out of production. They then lay tarmac which makes the whole area look bloody awful.Slabs are cheaper than tarmac believe it or not which is why you see them used so often. Also easier to take up if you need to work underneath. The correct ones shouldn't be slippery when they are wet although they might look like they are.
I bought a 65" Panasonic TV a few months ago and when I put it in place I realised I couldn't find its sockets, apart from "HDMI 3" which was separate.Agreed. I have a Panasonic television with the headphone socket buried somewhere at the back. Totally impossible to access without taking the TV off the wall. I don’t use headphones but that’s not really the point.
It's very, very common for instructions to be written in a way that makes sense only to those very familiar with the product and no use at all for people who need it to, you know, find out what to do.I think it’s the manual supplied which is poorly designed rather than the product itself.
I used to write "Redbooks" for IBM, which described how to implement and use new products. Good on IBM for seeing the need - the product manuals would tell you every conceivable parameter or setting, but not why you'd use any of them. So I completely agree with you, and I know that writing good instructions is hard work. From project inception to completion I'd guess that each book took three months, but it was interesting and good to know that they were valued in general.It's very, very common for instructions to be written in a way that makes sense only to those very familiar with the product and no use at all for people who need it to, you know, find out what to do.
Bad design with these dials is that when you put an item on the top shelf or take it out again the dial gets turned to max or min without you noticing. Either off milk or frozen salad results!My fridge has a dial to regulate the temperature, with the manual telling you to adjust it until you get the right temperature. The dial is numbered from 1 to 5, but with no indication on the dial or in the manual as to whether that is the actual temperature in degrees c. If the digits don't represent the degrees, it also makes no mention as to which of 1 or 5 is the coldest.
Been left on 3 since the day I got it.
With some of the dodgy PSUs that are around that's probably a safety feature.Big chunky plug/transformer things that obstruct the switch on the wall socket, so once they are plugged in, you can't switch on.
Also ones that can only be plugged into sockets located in the middle of a flat area of wall. My usual phone charger projects downwards from the pins. It's completely incompatible with hotel rooms where the only accessible sockets are immediately above a desk or shelf. So I now often end up carrying two differently shaped chargers to try to cover all possibilities.Big chunky plug/transformer things that obstruct the switch on the wall socket, so once they are plugged in, you can't switch on.
Also ones that can only be plugged into sockets located in the middle of a flat area of wall. My usual phone charger projects downwards from the pins. It's completely incompatible with hotel rooms where the only accessible sockets are immediately above a desk or shelf. So I now often end up carrying two differently shaped chargers to try to cover all possibilities.
A common problem. A toaster isn’t rocket science. At the very least it should be able to accept a slice of bread.
Austin had a go at sorting point one above.Bad design with these dials is that when you put an item on the top shelf or take it out again the dial gets turned to max or min without you noticing. Either off milk or frozen salad results!
A couple related to cars:
1. Where the steering wheel obstructs the driver's view of instruments.
2. Where in order to change a headlight bulb you have to disassemble half the car.
At pedestrian crossings, locating the button on the side of the crossing away from the direction in which most people approach. There's one near us exactly like that - and it was only installed a couple of years ago.
Big chunky plug/transformer things that obstruct the switch on the wall socket, so once they are plugged in, you can't switch on.
In a similar vein, (and it may only be me) I always find it difficult to quickly identify the buttons inside lifts which open the doors and which close them, which can lead to interesting situations when you try to open the doors to let someone else squeeze in, and you end up squashing them!At pedestrian crossings, locating the button on the side of the crossing away from the direction in which most people approach. There's one near us exactly like that - and it was only installed a couple of years ago.
I use the rubber strip on the door.In a similar vein, (and it may only be me) I always find it difficult to quickly identify the buttons inside lifts which open the doors and which close them, which can lead to interesting situations when you try to open the doors to let someone else squeeze in, and you end up squashing them!