# 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:** 80
**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 1, 2025, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1581 "2025-03-01T02:24:44Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > The cooler works great but why would they think a skinny plastic handle would work with a full cooler of ice? My brother’s business includes a lot of fixing cheaply made consumer crap for businesses that thought it would be durable enough for daily hard use. His mantra: > This is what you get when products are designed for selling, not for using. As to your cooler, they thought it would sell better with inadequate but $5 cheaper handles. They’re almost certainly right. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1582 "2025-03-10T16:34:38Z")
You’d think “bucket” was a product whose design was pretty much solved, but apparently not. My old mop bucket that I bought from K-Mart over 20 years ago finally broke the other day (more specifically, the plastic bit the handle attaches to broke off). The bucket actually gets quite a bit of use; as a water conservation method I put it under the spigot while I’m waiting for the water to get hot before I take a shower, so I can save that water for other uses. So I picket up a new bucket while I was at Target yesterday. The new bucket sucks. The old one was relatively deep, and I could pick it up when it was full of water by just the handle, no problem. The new one is I think the same volume as the old one, but wider and shallower. If I pick it up by the handle only, the water sloshes to one side, quickly making the bucket tip to that side and dumping the water out. You pretty much have to put your other hand on the lip to prevent it from tipping. ---
**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 10, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1583 "2025-03-10T17:32:26Z")
There are uses for wide-mouth buckets. There are uses for narrow-mouth buckets. Both suck at the other’s job. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1584 "2025-03-10T17:43:06Z")
Well then the problem is that this is literally the only bucket Target sells, at least at the location I shop at, and I really didn’t feel like going to another store. Ok, that’s not entirely true; they also had a wheeled mop bucket, but that wouldn’t work for my purpose, either. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1585 "2025-03-10T19:05:46Z")
Try a farm supply store, if there’s one near you. They ought to have buckets galore, in various sizes, shapes, and materials. I’d recommend the basic 5 gallon white pail, which you can buy empty though you may have seen them containing various things; but, depending on how strong you are, you might not want to wait till it gets too close to full. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1586 "2025-03-10T22:16:07Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’d recommend the basic 5 gallon white pail, which you can buy empty If you buy multiples of these, be forewarned that if you stack them one inside the other inside another, you may never get them apart… ---
**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:** [March 10, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1587 "2025-03-10T22:27:45Z")
If they’re designed right (like the orange Home Depot bucket), they have a ridge and appropriate taper so that they never get completely wedged together. ---
**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 10, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1588 "2025-03-10T23:13:29Z")
I just did a search at [taarget.com](http://taarget.com) for buckets. The main results were astonishingly limited. And showed a very shallow borderline useless bucket. Which is almost certainly the one that poor @WildaBeast was goaded into buying: **[Bucket : Target](https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=bucket&ignoreBrandExactness=true&Nao=0)** However, when I added the filter of “cleaning bucket” from their list of filters, suddenly I got many more results and all more plausibly shaped: **[Bucket (cleaning) : Target](https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=bucket&ignoreBrandExactness=true&Nao=0&facetedValue=uc1wy)**. Still and all, If I want a bucket, that’s a hardware store / janitorial store / Amazon item, not a Target item. They are now a clothing & grocery store + pharmacy with a very small sidelight in housewares. Which once was a strength of theirs. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1589 "2025-03-10T23:43:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And showed a very shallow borderline useless bucket. Which is almost certainly the one that poor @WildaBeast was goaded into buying Yep, that is the exact one. And looking at the reviews, everyone else has the same complaint as me. It has an average rating of two stars, but looking at the distribution the majority of ratings are 1 star. I am seriously considering returning it, it is that useless of a bucket. And after a brief search I can see Lowe’s has a much more useful looking one. Yes, I really should have waited until I could go to a proper hardware store, but I was already at Target buying groceries, I really wanted a replacement bucket that day, and I really didn’t want to go to another store that day. ---
**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 29, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1590 "2025-04-29T14:23:50Z")
I have a 2024 Subaru Cross Trek. I love the car except for one weird thing. It has the fob that you have to have somewhere on your person to unlock the doors and start the car. When I approach the driver’s side (say after shopping and I want to put something in the back seat) the driver’s door unlocks. I then have to open that door and push the button on the arm rest to unlock the back passenger door on that side. If I approach the car on the other side (the front passenger’s door), all of the doors unlock. It makes no sense. They should all unlock from the driver’s side so the driver, who has the fob can easily put things in the back seat. I grit my teeth every time I have to unlock the back seat door from inside. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1591 "2025-04-29T14:26:52Z")
Have you gone through the settings on the infotainment center? My car (23 Hyundai) lets me select whether walking up to to door unlocks just that door or all. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2025, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1592 "2025-04-29T14:27:19Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > They should all unlock from the driver’s side so the driver, who has the fob can easily put things in the back seat. You might check if there’s a way to configure that behavior. My Lexus had an option buried in its dashboard computer to switch driver-side unlock from driver’s door to every door. ---
**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 29, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1593 "2025-04-29T14:53:03Z")
Thanks! I’ll give it a try. I wondered about this, but I wasn’t in the mood to delve into the 4" thick manual! ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1594 "2025-04-29T15:20:34Z")
You may be able to drop by a Subaru dealership and ask them to help you configure the lock settings. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1595 "2025-04-29T15:48:29Z")
Mine (a Toyota) was exactly the same. There was a way to going into the settings on the central panel that the dealer knew, and I’m sure was described in the manual, but it’s strange to have this lack of symmetry as the default. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1596 "2025-04-29T15:54:20Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > but it’s strange to have this lack of symmetry as the default. To put it bluntly: it’s safer for a lone woman to unlock only the door she is directly going into, instead of every door of her vehicle. And less liability for the manufacturer to make the safer option the default. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1597 "2025-04-29T16:01:11Z")
So the default is to make it safe for women drivers, but not women passengers? I guess on the assumption that the driver will be male, and able to leap over the hood and defend her? The whole thing seems more like “perception of safety” than “actual safety,” but I am not knowledgeable in this area so I defer to those who are. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1598 "2025-04-29T16:10:57Z")
Are you sure you have to push the button to open the back door. My fob unlocks only the front door, but when I pull the handle on that door ,all the other locks unlock ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1599 "2025-04-29T16:15:26Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > So the default is to make it safe for women drivers, but not women passengers? Note that @Pleonast said ‘lone woman’. If the Bad Guy is hiding on the passenger side of the car, presumably the passenger (male or female) will see him when approaching the vehicle. The lone driver will not. And, as several have noted, the default can be changed. ---
**Author:** ![Awb78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Awb78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Awb78)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1600 "2025-04-29T16:44:43Z")
I recently had the “pleasure” of driving a 2011 Nissan Murano for 10 days while on a work-cation. Key is a fob. try to start it…nothing. Wave it all around thinking there’s a magical spot it needs to be…nothing. Turns out, there’s a slot on the dash where the fob has to be inserted before the push-button start will work. Congrats Nissan! You invented the key!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=79) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=81)