# 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:** 69
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1361 "2024-08-18T00:25:37Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > The green “running man” is increasingly considered as “universally understood” as an EXIT sign that doesn’t depend on language. Thank you for informing me. First I heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1362 "2024-08-18T00:41:37Z")
Sometimes even a clearly labeled sign doesn’t help. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtTG_ViXAAEGXn_.jpg) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtTG_ViXAAEGXn_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1363 "2024-08-18T05:05:34Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > A red hexagon is understood to mean STOP. Maybe not so universal. United States uses octagons, with two edges vertical and two edges horizontal. What country are you in? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1364 "2024-08-18T08:12:20Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > A red hexagon is understood to mean STOP. In the UK, STOP signs are octagons - they are the only octagonal road signs. Circular signs with a red border are also mandatory and triangular signs are advisory. We also use the green running figure. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1365 "2024-08-18T09:56:39Z")
I’ve seen this **Far Side** cartoon since I was a wee tyke. I’d say it’s about time I did some research find out how old it is… ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1366 "2024-08-18T10:35:24Z")
Octogon. I’m just an idiot! ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1367 "2024-08-18T16:34:21Z")
When I was just in Iceland the Walk symbol on the stop lights looked like a troll. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1368 "2024-08-18T16:44:15Z")
The door push/pull quandary is a big part of Dan Norman’s wonderful **The Design of Everyday Things** , which he labeled affordance. The book was originally named **The Psychology of Everyday Things** when released in 1988, which shows that even design experts can get things wrong on the first iteration. It’s still a great read. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1369 "2024-08-18T19:56:01Z")
I can’t believe I never brought this up here, or maybe I have. Don’t get old, folks! OTC medicine packaging, the kind that you have to peel apart. I have RA and it’s so difficult to open, I just can’t see it being practical for anyone. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1370 "2024-08-18T20:40:42Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > The door push/pull quandary The book I mentioned in post #1352 has a subsection titled “Doors of Death” covering this exact thing. And I just put the Dan Norman book you mentioned on hold at my library. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1371 "2024-08-18T21:56:02Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > OTC medicine packaging, the kind that you have to peel apart. Making something child-proof that’s not also elder-proof is a tall order. Legally, the former is required, the latter is nice to have. Sucks to be us. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1372 "2024-08-18T21:59:39Z")
If you go over to the pharmacy counter, they have a can-opener looking tool they use to pry off the outer, childproof caps on the meds they dispense, and they’ll remove them from your OTC bottles too. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1373 "2024-08-18T22:02:16Z")
A lot of medicines now have a double-sided cap: As purchased, it’s child-safe, but if you manage to get the lid off just once (possibly at the pharmacy counter), you can then turn it over and put it on the other way, in which case it’s just a normal screw-on lid. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1374 "2024-08-18T22:02:47Z")
ETA: @Slithy_Tove two above. Which doesn’t help for the problem @Patx2 was complaining about that I was responding to: individual pills in blisters or peel-aparts. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1375 "2024-08-18T22:09:35Z")
Mea cupla. Let’s call it a general PSA. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1376 "2024-08-18T22:11:26Z")
That’s when you use a knife. Or the end of a spoon. Go in from the back and just cut the pill out. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1377 "2024-08-18T22:19:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Making something child-proof that’s not also elder-proof is a **tall** order See, you’ve inadvertently hit upon the solution. Elders may have strength and dexterity issues, just like children, so a child-proof container that depends on those factors will make it impossible for some elders to open it. But there is a difference with almost zero overlap between children and adults: height, or rather arm-span (which is almost the same thing). Make the bottle 4 feet long, with buttons on each end, and designed like a nuclear launch system where it only opens when you press both buttons at once. They can be individually easy to press; the system depends only on the fact that children can’t physically reach that far. It will require redesigned medicine cabinets, to be fair. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1378 "2024-08-18T22:21:53Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > They can be individually easy to press; the system depends only on the fact that children can’t physically reach that far. The little bastards will just double-team it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1379 "2024-08-18T22:30:50Z")
Fair. And honestly, even if they don’t actually cooperate, they’ll just use the bottles like lightsabers until they break open on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1380 "2024-08-18T22:31:39Z")
I have the same issue with blister-packed pharmaceuticals; some are quite difficult to open, which can be frustrating when you really need the med. But prescriptions bottles from the pharmacy often have caps that can be reversed from child-proof to easy-to-open, as below. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Walgreens_Prescription_Bottle.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Walgreens_Prescription_Bottle.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=68) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=70)