15 Everyday Items That Are Badly Designed

Some objects are designed in a way that often makes it difficult and frustrating for the consumer. It provides a bad user experience, thus beating its purpose.

Read on to discover 15 everyday items that are poorly designed.

USB

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USB is an extremely helpful item, but it is almost impossible to plug a USB stick in the slot on the first attempt. It usually takes multiple shots even with familiar USB sticks, making one wonder why they don’t come with color codes on either side.

Motion Sensor Faucets

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Motion sensor faucets help lower the risk of contamination. They also help in water conservation; however, if your hands are not positioned correctly or set too far from the sensor, the infrared rays may not detect the movement and get activated. It is not fun to wave hands continuously to find the sweet spot.

Glass Ketchup Bottles

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One can never get the bottle to squeeze out the exact desired amount. Furthermore, squeezing out the last drops from the bottle is a nightmare.

Serial Wired Christmas Lights

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Untangling serial-wired Christmas lights is a work of patience with many strings and tiny bulbs arranged in a single row; a wrong or hard pull can manage to damage the small bulbs.

Invisible Socks

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Invisible or no-show socks may seem like a perfect solution for impeccable attire, but they come with their own set of problems. Invisible socks slip off the feet and stay bunched up in the shoes, which is both uncomfortable and inconvenient.

Toothbrushes That You Can’t Put Down

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A wide array of toothbrushes is available; one can get wide-handled, electric, and even chewable toothbrushes. While the industry offers a variety of toothbrushes to its consumers, it has not been able to address this simple flaw. One cannot put down a toothbrush on its back – no matter what, it topples.

Stickers On Fruits

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Fruit stickers have led to an unnecessary step towards cleaning fruits before eating. The adhesive sticks to the body, so one must either scrub it or cut out the offending part. All in all, it gives a poor user experience.

Nail Clippers

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Nail clippers that do not contain nails but send nails flying everywhere are a design flaw. It can lead to unnecessary stress as you need to collect nails from where they have fallen before someone at home accidentally steps on them and hurts them.

Identical American Dollar Bills

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American dollar bills being the same shape and size regardless of denomination can often lead to confusion. One can easily hand out a wrong bill, especially in a hurry or with poor visibility. For a traveler, this makes things worse.

Clothing Labels

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It is understood that brands need to put their logos, but why should they irritate the consumer’s skin in the process? Most clothing labels are made of poor-quality materials and are woven in a manner that is impossible to remove without damaging the cloth. Hence the consumer is left with no choice but to wear it and be uncomfortable at times.

Air Blow Hand Dryers

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Air blow dryers have to be one of the biggest scams out there. They don’t dry effectively, leaving you with slightly damp hands.

Coffee Mugs With Small Handles

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Big coffee mugs, especially when filled to the brim, can be heavy to lift and can cause spillage. Pair it with small handles, and it can lead to an accident. Coffee mugs with small handles that can barely provide a firm grip are a major design flaw that infuriates many.

Wireless Earphones

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While wireless earphones come as one-size-fits-all, everyone’s ears and ear canals are of different shapes and sizes. This is why all earphones don’t snug in nicely in all ears and tend to pop out.

Cereal Carton Boxes

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Cereal boxes look neat, but not when one tries to open them. It is incredibly infuriating to navigate through the amount of glue used to seal the top of the box. Sometimes, even a slight more pressure can lead to a bag burst, sending all Cheerios or one’s favorite morning cereal scattered on the floor.

Pull And Push Door

Image Credit: Deposit Photos

A door should be designed in such a way that one knows when to pull and when to push. However, some doors that have an identical design, for example pull bars on both sides, give confusing signals to the users.

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