# Poor designs in everyday life **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358 "2019-04-10T21:36:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/21 "2019-04-11T13:16:50Z")
Well, if infomercials are any indication, [pretty much everything](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCaQLnR7B10). ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/22 "2019-04-11T13:19:39Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Squeezable relish and mayo plastic bottles. What’s wrong with squeezable mayo bottles? I love them. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/23 "2019-04-11T13:33:12Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Oh, and[this piece of shit](https://images.app.goo.gl/bVYPmk22CDp5LSX17). > > It’s a Kitchenaid/whirlpool ice maker. If you have one, you know what I’m talking about. Yep - mine alternates between not making any ice for a few weeks and then spending a few weeks making ice constantly and overflowing the bin. Something is broken, but I’m not motivated enough to figure out what. I just try to use lots of ice or periodically dump some in the sink. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/24 "2019-04-11T13:35:47Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > What’s wrong with squeezable mayo bottles? I love them. They work great when full but at half there’s no pressure to eject the mayo stuck at the sides and bottom. They should consider more of a toothpaste tube design. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/25 "2019-04-11T13:37:28Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Oh, and[this piece of shit](https://images.app.goo.gl/bVYPmk22CDp5LSX17). > > It’s a Kitchenaid/whirlpool ice maker. If you have one, you know what I’m talking about. What a piece of crap those things are. Overflowing the bin one day, won’t make ice the next day, turn around and it’s one big block of ice stuck in the bin. Here in Ningland it works about as reliably as leaving an ice cube tray outside and waiting for it to freeze. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/26 "2019-04-11T13:52:48Z")
My contributions are the dispensers of liquid hand soap. They seem to be designed for two-handed use: press down with one hand, catch the soap in the other. Which is inefficient and not realistic. I always use them with only one hand, which means my palm is slightly off to the side of the dispenser. Which wouldn’t be a problem if it was aimed down more. Instead they are aimed pretty straight out, causing the soap to shoot clear across my palm and onto the counter. Or worse: onto my shirt. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/27 "2019-04-11T13:53:04Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Combination on/off ramps on freeways. I understand that it saves space in cramped cities, but people trying to slow down while exiting being mixed with people accelerating to get on the freeway is just a bone stupid thing to do. I hate, hate, hate these! We don’t have them in my area, but when traveling in the Twin Cities I encounter them. I almost have a panic attack if I have to use them. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/28 "2019-04-11T14:22:41Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > They work great when full but at half there’s no pressure to eject the mayo stuck at the sides and bottom. > > They should consider more of a toothpaste tube design. Fair enough, toothpaste tube would work. But I just store the mayo upside down in the fridge, never any stuck to the bottom or sides. Plus, they make the cap flat now in order to make storing it upside down easier. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/29 "2019-04-11T14:29:30Z")
Another traffic-related issue. This one is local to me (Portland, OR), but probably also exists elsewhere: Traffic lights aren’t synced. I’m talking about short stretches along a major thoroughfare where there are several stoplights in a row. I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area until I was 34, and in such areas the lights would be synced together, in an effort to keep traffic moving, so that you’d hit most of them green. Not so here. Not far from where I live there’s a large shopping center right next to the freeway. There are six or eight stoplights along a half-mile stretch of the main road going through this area. They all have their own random timing cycle, so during rush hour it is an absolute clusterfuck trying to get through. This type of thing is common throughout the metro area. I lived in the Seattle area for a short time about twelve years ago, and they shared this same lack of enlightenment. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/30 "2019-04-11T14:39:54Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > My contributions are the dispensers of liquid hand soap. They seem to be designed for two-handed use: press down with one hand, catch the soap in the other. Which is inefficient and not realistic. I always use them with only one hand, which means my palm is slightly off to the side of the dispenser. Which wouldn’t be a problem if it was aimed down more. Instead they are aimed pretty straight out, causing the soap to shoot clear across my palm and onto the counter. Or worse: onto my shirt. Yes! Love the soap, hate the spout design. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/31 "2019-04-11T15:00:11Z")
I’ve got one of these [Ratcheting Screwdriver](https://store.snapon.com/Standard-Handle-8-3-4-Ratcheting-Standard-Screwdriver-P634146.aspx) from Snap-On. Well built and works great except for one problem. While the handle is squared off the bezel for the ratcheting mechanism is rounded. So that means unless the surface you’re working on or are adjacent to is perfectly flat, the damn thing rolls away every time you set it down. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/32 "2019-04-11T15:07:39Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Being left-handed, I’m constantly assaulted by stuff made for a right-handed world. That’s why I’ve never understood the design for[a typical flush toilet](https://www.build.com/american-standard-714aa-154/s1294493?uid=3072228&source=gg-gba-pla_3072228!c1709211112!a69367404440!dc!ns&gclid=CjwKCAjwqLblBRBYEiwAV3pCJk4320j3X8V_jB0YsufhgAohKGVN5ikIDQq2S0-ER29XA6KJPdm18xoC2oMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), a urinal, or for that matter, a [Flushometer](https://www.prodryers.com/Sloan-WES-115-Dual-Flush-Water-Closet-Flushometer-p/3720300.htm?gclid=CjwKCAjwqLblBRBYEiwAV3pCJmyv_WCiHSLGqI9ykPExQLeeHxzhH6upHURGWQmvM9ZdS0gKhVeHMxoChkwQAvD_BwE). The only semblance of an answer I could find was, “in the old days with high tank models, the chain was on the left, so right-handed people could pull the chain while sitting on the toilet.” > > Does every right-handed person flush while sitting? I have never flushed while sitting. Of course, I make a point of not sitting on urinals. 😃 I don’t understand though: Are you saying you have trouble flushing those toilets? What is the poor design in having the handle point to the left rather than the right? I would think even the most un-ambidextrous could use a handle pointing either direction. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/33 "2019-04-11T15:10:14Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > In almost every car, the gap between center console and seat is perfect to swallow any car keys, change or cell phone which might slide out of your pocket or otherwise get anywhere near it - this gap also has some sort of gravitational anomaly, attracting exactly those things you don’t have time for to recover, by pulling over the car, exiting, and locating from the rear seat. > > After decades of this, you’d think they designed this away by now. But of course not. There is a fix for that. I have [this](https://www.amazon.com/Drop-Stop-Original-Patented-Filler/dp/B00BYH6C1E/ref=asc_df_B00BYH6C1E/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198084439869&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16003225220357684263&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033292&hvtargid=pla-379817158224&psc=1http://) in my vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/34 "2019-04-11T15:15:52Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Another traffic-related issue. This one is local to me (Portland, OR), but probably also exists elsewhere: > > Traffic lights aren’t synced. > > I’m talking about short stretches along a major thoroughfare where there are several stoplights in a row. I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area until I was 34, and in such areas the lights would be synced together, in an effort to keep traffic moving, so that you’d hit most of them green. > > Not so here. Not far from where I live there’s a large shopping center right next to the freeway. There are six or eight stoplights along a half-mile stretch of the main road going through this area. They all have their own random timing cycle, so during rush hour it is an absolute clusterfuck trying to get through. This type of thing is common throughout the metro area. > > I lived in the Seattle area for a short time about twelve years ago, and they shared this same lack of enlightenment. I hate to say this; it’s probably deliberate. It’s intended to reduce traffic speeds and make areas safer. Perhaps ironically, they call it “traffic calming”. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/35 "2019-04-11T15:28:55Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Another traffic-related issue. This one is local to me (Portland, OR), but probably also exists elsewhere: > > Traffic lights aren’t synced. > > I’m talking about short stretches along a major thoroughfare where there are several stoplights in a row. I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area until I was 34, and in such areas the lights would be synced together, in an effort to keep traffic moving, so that you’d hit most of them green. > > Not so here. Not far from where I live there’s a large shopping center right next to the freeway. There are six or eight stoplights along a half-mile stretch of the main road going through this area. They all have their own random timing cycle, so during rush hour it is an absolute clusterfuck trying to get through. This type of thing is common throughout the metro area. > > I lived in the Seattle area for a short time about twelve years ago, and they shared this same lack of enlightenment. From what I’ve read they have to all be synced manually. Which in this day and age is ridiculous since you’d think they’d all be connected to some central grid. And once you sync them the first time an emergency vehicle goes through they all get screwed up anyways so it’s not worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/36 "2019-04-11T15:45:58Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I have never flushed while sitting. Of course, I make a point of not sitting on urinals. 😃 > > I don’t understand though: Are you saying you have trouble flushing those toilets? What is the poor design in having the handle point to the left rather than the right? I would think even the most un-ambidextrous could use a handle pointing either direction. On the contrary, I find the standard handle arrangement the most ubiquitous pro-lefty design in the world. Which means it must be the most anti-righty design ever, since they have to reach across their body with their right hand, and I don’t. And righties outnumber lefties. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/37 "2019-04-11T15:48:22Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > From what I’ve read they have to all be synced manually. Which in this day and age is ridiculous since you’d think they’d all be connected to some central grid. > And once you sync them the first time an emergency vehicle goes through they all get screwed up anyways so it’s not worth it. Wait, where you live the traffic lights timing changes when an emergency vehicle goes through? 😕 AFAIK all I’ve ever seen is the situation where “if an emergency vehicle is blaring sirens, any other signals must be ignored”. The lights merrily go on with their usual timing. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/38 "2019-04-11T15:56:56Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > On the contrary, I find the standard handle arrangement the most ubiquitous pro-lefty design in the world. Which means it must be the most anti-righty design ever, since they have to reach across their body with their right hand, and I don’t. And righties outnumber lefties. I’m still confused: Are you saying you flush while sitting and the current design favors lefties for flushing while sitting? I don’t flush while sitting and have never had a problem flushing a toilet or urinal with my left hand, and I’m not real ambidextrous. I don’t see the location of a pull down lever that requires very little dexterous manipulation to be much of a factor for left or right handed folks. I could hold a claw in my left hand and still get that flush lever to function. Hell, I could reach up with my left foot and manage to flush. Seeing the number of broken public toilets, I think the flush with the left foot is pretty common. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/39 "2019-04-11T16:12:25Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Combination on/off ramps on freeways. I understand that it saves space in cramped cities, but people trying to slow down while exiting being mixed with people accelerating to get on the freeway is just a bone stupid thing to do. I can’t picture what you mean by this. Example? ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358/40 "2019-04-11T16:26:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Wait, where you live the traffic lights timing changes when an emergency vehicle goes through? 😕 AFAIK all I’ve ever seen is the situation where “if an emergency vehicle is blaring sirens, any other signals must be ignored”. The lights merrily go on with their usual timing. In many places emergency vehicles have a strobe light on them, which traffic lights detect, and will cause the lights to interrupt their cycle and go to green for the emergency vehicle. [According to this article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_signal_preemption), there also acoustic, radio, and GPS based preemption systems, which makes sense. There is the occasional story of a private vehicle using one of these. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-designs-in-everyday-life/832358.md?page=3)