# Stupidest product design you’ve experienced **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621 "2023-03-25T02:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/21 "2023-03-25T12:40:59Z")
Every smartphone on the market will automatically leave a “missed call” alert on the recipient’s phone if I call and then hang up without reaching them. What if I dialed their number by accident? What if I reached their voicemail and decided it’s not really that important and I don’t feel like leaving a message? Doesn’t matter - there’s no way to hang up without “Missed Call” appearing on their phone. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/22 "2023-03-25T13:01:27Z")
I’m not sure it’s ever been implemented but Sony own a patent that only let’s you skip a commercial if you say the brand name out loud. [![](https://i.redd.it/vv61vse8kum41.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/vv61vse8kum41.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/23 "2023-03-25T13:15:16Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@snfaulkner](#): > > > > My mom’s Mac’s wireless mouse has the charging port on the bottom, mousing surface. Which of course means you can’t use the mouse while charging/wired. > > Same for our iMac; another stupid design by Apple. Even more annoying is that Apple doesn’t give a shit. When “pretty” is more important than “useful” you get products like that. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/24 "2023-03-25T13:18:28Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Another thing that’s not exactly for one product, but rather seems to be a trend. What’s with the controls for a television or other product only present on remote controls? When the remote dies, the actual device is useless. Another remote related complaint. I have a Yamaha home theatre receiver that functions as just the AUDIO portion of the system rather than the hub. All sources run to the TV and I run an optical cable to the receiver for sound. So how to you access the receiver’s advanced sound settings? Via an on-screen menu. So apparently I have to run an additional video cable from the receiver back to the tv to serve a single purpose of accessing this. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/25 "2023-03-25T13:33:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@Chefguy](#): > > > > > [@snfaulkner](#): > > > > > > My mom’s Mac’s wireless mouse has the charging port on the bottom, mousing surface. Which of course means you can’t use the mouse while charging/wired. > > > > Same for our iMac; another stupid design by Apple. Even more annoying is that Apple doesn’t give a shit. > > When “pretty” is more important than “useful” you get products like that. Hey, i have a wireless mouse that has a charging port that’s accessible while it’s being used, but if i plug it in, it thinks it’s being used as a wired mouse, and won’t connect wirelessly. Even though it’s just plugged in to a dumb USB charging block. Maybe if i connected it to the computer it could charge and with at the same time? That’s awkward, for reasons related to wanting a wireless mouse. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/26 "2023-03-25T13:36:21Z")
Ah, software… Seems to me that more than half of the catalog pages I pull up have hot just unnecessarily tiny typefaces (are the webmasters charging the company by the pixel?) but that there is a fashion for low contrast, light black (as Epson terms it) lettering. Am i the only one who has to push the image size to pixillation in order to read it? Not to mention ingredient lists; I’d carry a magnifying glass to the grocery store if I could only remember… won’t necessarily help with the light red type on the medium red background. Couple of years ago I ditched a favorite photography magazine because they had a look at their text, decided it wasn’t _quite_ tiny enough, so took the extensive captioning under the pictures down a few more stops (photo mag, remember?). Not even going to mention the hard-to-navigate websites…wait a minute, wait just a minute! Could it be that every programmer imagines that he/she/it is an _ **Artist** _? We’ll see about that! “But first, we kill all the designers”. Shakespeare Dan ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/27 "2023-03-25T13:43:18Z")
Two car related ones. The key fob for my current car, a 2020 Kia Sorento, is too sensitive. When I first got the car, I’d put the fob in my pocket with the rest of my keys, and it would trigger buttons (including opening the back to the cargo space) when I sat down. I ended up getting a simple case for it, and cut up an old credit card to slip over the buttons. I can still press them if I push hard enough, but it no longer triggers in my pocket. I very rarely need the fob buttons anyway. (Minor related point - the slot to attach to a keychain is part of the removable ‘key’ in the fob. That means when I go running, I can’t just take the little light-weight key easily. My BMW was the opposite, which made mode sense to me. I suppose there are use cases where you want the fob part to be easily separable, but they aren’t part of my routine. I should see if there’s a different case that has a keyring attachment point on the other side) My old BMW had an obstacle detection system that had a major design flaw. It didn’t care which direction the car was going. I parked it in my garage. When I’d leave, even though the car would be in reverse, it would detect the wall in front of me and start beeping. I’d never know (from the detection system) if there was something behind me, because it was already active. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/28 "2023-03-25T13:52:05Z")
The key fob on my old Hyundai Santa Fe had a super sensitive alarm button. I’d have to push lock or unlock three or four times to get those to work, but the alarm would go off just from me sitting on my couch with my keys in my pocket. My Toyota RAV4 has an interesting feature where, if the outside temperature is exactly 37°, then the “Roads may be icy” warning will go off. Even if it’s bright and sunny outside. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/29 "2023-03-25T14:11:06Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > the worst product design ever is the CD jewel case It’s not only the fragility, but the fiendish difficulty of extracting the CD from the case practically ensures you will get your greasy oily filthy fingertips on the CD (or the DVD) at some point in the process. It’s like they designed it to ensure that as a necessary stage in the process of getting the CD out of the case and into the CD player: “How can we maximize the chances of touching the CD surface in course of loading it into the machine?” Seems to me it could have been designed as a total “no-touch” process where you could place the case above the slot for the CD, press on a section of the case and it would load the CD into your player directly. This is of course an old person’s complaint at this point, but it’s an unforgettable frustration ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/30 "2023-03-25T14:14:09Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Hey, i have a wireless mouse that has a charging port that’s accessible while it’s being used, but if i plug it in, it thinks it’s being used as a wired mouse, and won’t connect wirelessly. Even though it’s just plugged in to a dumb USB charging block. > > Maybe if i connected it to the computer it could charge and with at the same time? That’s awkward, for reasons related to wanting a wireless mouse. Ouch! Now that is a bad combination. I wonder how old the mouse is? Back in the day, USB wasn’t a universal charging standard first and data communications standard second. So the idea anyone would plug a mouse into a source other than the computer it’s controlling would seem way too weird to even imagine, much less cater for. Nowadays, not so much. Still, what a PITA for you! > [@Dandan](#): > > Not to mention ingredient lists; I’d carry a magnifying glass to the grocery store if I could only remember… won’t necessarily help with the light red type on the medium red background. Your phone makes a great flashlight and the phone’s camera makes a great magnifying glass. Sadly, at least on my phone it won’t do both at once. Don’t ask me how I learned this. > [@Dandan](#): > > Could it be that every programmer imagines that he/she/it is an _ **Artist** _? > > We’ll see about that! > “But first, we kill all the designers”. Shakespeare > > Dan Don’t confuse programmers with designers. Two utterly different skill sets. Stuff designed by programmers is terrible in a different way than stuff designed by designers. One is ugly and weird to use, the other is pretty but _much_ harder to use, especially if you’re over age 40. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/31 "2023-03-25T14:22:36Z")
Old school flip phone here, barely makes phone calls. But I _could_ carry my Canon (I carry it everywhere else) and use that! Thanks! > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Don’t confuse programmers with designers. Two utterly different skill sets. I was more on about progs who think that they are designers - double plus ungood. Worst feature of both…well, not professions, exactly. Dan ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/32 "2023-03-25T14:25:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I wonder how old the mouse is? Two or three years old. But it might have been designed longer ago than that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/33 "2023-03-25T14:27:13Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Does software count? There’s now a companion thread for software: > [@Stupidest software design you've experienced](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-software-design-youve-experienced/981643): > > Companion thread to this: I have two, both related to my music apps and devices. The PC one, Media Go (yes it is no longer supported but is perfect for all of my needs, except as I am about to disclose) allows you to note which cuts are or are not on a playlist you made. Or which ones are on a device you have plugged in. But only if you are within the main music folder, and NOT within another playlist. Several updates ago (~2018), they inexplicably removed the ability to see if a playlist… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/34 "2023-03-25T14:31:58Z")
> [@Dandan](#): > > I’d carry a magnifying glass to the grocery store if I could only remember In my neck of the woods, many of the shops have carts with built-in magnifiers. Like this: [![](https://external-preview.redd.it/7dLAKVmOwi8ScBoYPfwOb5C2lrhL2a8fTSpfar3A6wI.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=a9486c65c0d804b63a7cfa139842240eaf70296c) ](https://external-preview.redd.it/7dLAKVmOwi8ScBoYPfwOb5C2lrhL2a8fTSpfar3A6wI.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=a9486c65c0d804b63a7cfa139842240eaf70296c) ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/35 "2023-03-25T14:33:48Z")
gelegenheit = opportunity ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/36 "2023-03-25T14:40:52Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > The key fob for my current car, a 2020 Kia Sorento, is too sensitive. When I first got the car, I’d put the fob in my pocket with the rest of my keys, and it would trigger buttons (including opening the back to the cargo space) when I sat down. I ended up getting a simple case for it, and cut up an old credit card to slip over the buttons. I can still press them if I push hard enough, but it no longer triggers in my pocket. I very rarely need the fob buttons anyway. Same here. Lots of fun when the key fob accidentally sets off the car alarm, Even more fun when it opens the moon roof while we’re in the house unaware that anything happened until next time we go out to the driveway (bonus points if it rained in between these events). ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/37 "2023-03-25T14:44:01Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Lots of fun when the key fob accidentally sets off the car alarm Honestly, car alarms in general. Mine has never gone off for any actual reason, and no one responds to them anyways, because even if it’s really being broken into, we’ve all been trained to ignore them by the 99.99999% of the time it’s an accidental alarm. Just get rid of the things, already. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/38 "2023-03-25T14:44:12Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > It’s not only the fragility, but the fiendish difficulty of extracting the CD from the case practically ensures you will get your greasy oily filthy fingertips on the CD (or the DVD) at some point in the process. It’s like they designed it to ensure that as a necessary stage in the process of getting the CD out of the case and into the CD player: “How can we maximize the chances of touching the CD surface in course of loading it into the machine?” If you’re lucky and the ring (I know it’s not really a ring, but I can’t think of what else to call it) that holds the CD is still intact and not partly broken like so often (it’s one of the predetermined breaking points I mentioned), there’s a trick: press down that ring with your thumb while holding the edge of the CD with your index finger, and you can get out the CD without touching the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/39 "2023-03-25T14:47:43Z")
Norman Doors, named after usability specialist Don Norman, who called out this horrific design. Norman doors are those doors on public buildings with hidden hinges and a steel bar across the door. By looking at them you can’t tell if you should push or pull, or whether you should push/pull on the left or right. You have a 25% chance of getting through the door on the first attempt. Extra bonus points when there is a gap and then another set of interior doors. Now you have a 12.5% chance of getting through the first time. Watching people get trapped inside a set of Norman doors ismalways fun. > **[Norman Doors: Don't Know Whether to Push or Pull? Blame Design. - 99% Invisible](https://99percentinvisible.org/article/norman-doors-dont-know-whether-push-pull-blame-design/)** > > Some doors require printed instructions to operate, while others are so poorly designed that they lead people to do the exact opposite of what they need to in order to open them. Their shapes or details may suggest that pushing should work, when in... The correct way to design them is with affordances. If you want people to push the door, put a push plate on it. If you want them to pull, a vertical pull handle. Put them on the side opposite the hinge, not across the door for manufacturing convenience. Problem completely solved. And yet, people still install Norman doors, probably because they look ‘modern’. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/40 "2023-03-25T15:46:22Z")
My BMW, about 11 years old, does exactly the same with the beepy thing, doesn’t discriminate between front/rear sensors and forward/reverse gears. It is a bit annoying isn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=3)