Bad Design in Everyday Things

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One thing I hate, and I really notice this on Chrysler products like the Pacifica we own, is wing mirrors that are way to small for the vehicle and don't show anything to the sides of you. When I'm driving our Pacifica I have to look 2 or 3 times while changing lanes because it has such God-awful blind spots and the inability to have decent wing mirrors. It's an accident waiting to happen if you ask me.
 
The GTI seems to have really horrible blind spots. You can see just as much out of the rearview as the wing mirrors. The farthest forward I can see in the wing mirrors are the cars next to the car behind me.
 
The GTI seems to have really horrible blind spots. You can see just as much out of the rearview as the wing mirrors. The farthest forward I can see in the wing mirrors are the cars next to the car behind me.
Is that the MkV? I know my Rabbit has some thick B and C pillars, which makes looking over my shoulder on the driver's side hard to see if a car is there.

Really, though, for mirror issues make some adjustments. But all cars will have a blind spot in the mirrors large enough to hide a car. That said I have mine to where simply leaning one way or the other will give me a glimpse in one of my mirrors. Once I even flipped the power mirror on and swiveled it out a bit to see and then swiveled it back.
 
The farthest forward I can see in the wing mirrors are the cars next to the car behind me.
:lol: I think you opened a wormhole by writing that sentence. When I first bought my car, the first thing I noticed while driving is that the B-pillar is right where you want to look for a head-check. I got used to it, but it struck me as bad design. Of course, if it were any further back, the rear doors would be almost non-existent.
 
Yeah. I knew something would happen by writing that...

Really, though, for mirror issues make some adjustments. But all cars will have a blind spot in the mirrors large enough to hide a car. That said I have mine to where simply leaning one way or the other will give me a glimpse in one of my mirrors. Once I even flipped the power mirror on and swiveled it out a bit to see and then swiveled it back.

Yes, I've got the MKV. I got it figured out so that I can see my blind spot fine over my shoulder. I think I sit far enough back so that I can see between the seat and B-pillar out the rear side window. I can also see what's going on beside me just fine out th side window too.
 
I realized something that has been bugging me since I can remember... the bottom drawer in every fridge I have ever opened (that would be many a fridge)
has been crap! as soon as you put some weight in them it becomes difficult to open and even more difficult to close without jamming it at an angle or breaking it, which just happens to be what I did to ours this morning out of frustration
 
I realized something that has been bugging me since I can remember... the bottom drawer in every fridge I have ever opened (that would be many a fridge)
has been crap! as soon as you put some weight in them it becomes difficult to open and even more difficult to close without jamming it at an angle or breaking it, which just happens to be what I did to ours this morning out of frustration

Huh I never really thought about it until you just said something but you are completely right.
 
One thing I hate, and I really notice this on Chrysler products like the Pacifica we own, is wing mirrors that are way to small for the vehicle and don't show anything to the sides of you. When I'm driving our Pacifica I have to look 2 or 3 times while changing lanes because it has such God-awful blind spots and the inability to have decent wing mirrors. It's an accident waiting to happen if you ask me.

It's a huge pet peeve of mine - side mirrors. They should make them with convex portions built-in so that blind spots can be eliminated immediately (and obviously as you say they need to be large enough). Blind spots don't have to exist, we have the technology to eliminate them.
 
::snobby smug voice:: my car doesn't even know what a blind spot is /snobby smug voice::

though it does come at the cost of having different mirrors on either side
 
The Blazer doesn't have blind spots either...if you've ever seen the wing mirrors on those damn things you wouldn't be surprised if you caught a glimpse of God Himself sneaking up on your truck.
 
I have ’nother. We have this plastic storage container outside that holds bird seeds. The lid is hinged though such that when it’s fully opened, it’s standing straight up, and can’t be pushed further back. This means that you have to carefully balance it so that when you reach into the container, the heavy lid doesn’t fall and smack you on the head. Problem is, it’s incredibly difficult to get it balanced perfectly. It’s an awful piece of design.
 
the metal case for my psp is the same way, it opens 180 degrees but doesn't have any sort of stop to keep it open, if you tilt it too far forwards while playing, you get sharp aluminum edges slammed shut on your fingers... it is a major complaint for altogether good product
 
the metal case for my psp is the same way, it opens 180 degrees but doesn't have any sort of stop to keep it open, if you tilt it too far forwards while playing, you get sharp aluminum edges slammed shut on your fingers... it is a major complaint for altogether good product
I suggest one of these. 👍

Save your fingers!
 
I'll go to MOST bucket seats:
I'm one of those rare people that are long of torso and short of leg.
Why can't every body follow Ford's design of moving pedals?
In most cars, if I can comfortably reach the wheel, with the seat back angle I like, I have to stretch to reach the pedals.
If I'm comfortable with the pedal position, I have to lean the seat back pretty far to get my arms comfy, then I'm looking at the sky!

And while I'm in cars, can I have 2 cup holders far enough apart that two 32 OZ cups can occupy them at the same time?
 
The Chrysler Pacifica has moving pedals, but they only work half the time in ours.
 
These dog food containers we have in our garage. They stack up from big at the bottom then smallest at the top, there's three. Frequently, and I mean frequently, the bottom one caves in from the weight above and the two above tumble down and the dog food goes everywhere and I get to clean it up. :ouch:
 
There are enough idiots running around here with their high beams on to warrant bad design... At least in the damn indicator light. :rolleyes:
 
Speaking of high-beams:
Why do Chevrolets douse the low-beams when you switch on the hi-beams?

My mini-van, and Metro both do that. Makes the road disappear, and doesn't really provide more light (which is what I want).

All they do is blind on-coming drivers.

Both of my Fords, the Toyota, and the Honda give you both sets of lights (just like they used to in the old days) so you can see the road, the edges of the road, and what's ahead.

I guess if a design is "right" and works, some asshat just can't rest till he messes it up.:irked:
 
My fog lamps turn off when I hit the high beams. I guess the thinking is that if you have your fog lights on, it is foggy, and therefore you shouldn't be using the high beams. It naturally follows that if you're using the high beams, it must not be foggy, and thus, the fog lamps turn off for your convenience.
 
My fog lamps turn off when I hit the high beams. I guess the thinking is that if you have your fog lights on, it is foggy, and therefore you shouldn't be using the high beams. It naturally follows that if you're using the high beams, it must not be foggy, and thus, the fog lamps turn off for your convenience.

Yes, that makes sense, but what I'm talking about is when the actual headlight low beams go off when the high beams come on.

They've been doing that in Chevy trucks so long that there is actually a kit available to bypass the cut-out and leave the low beams on.
If you have a Chevy, pull the turn signal stalk toward you gently in the dark.
You will note that just before the "click-over" to the High beams, you'll have both sets of lights.
Complete the click-over and the low beams go off.
It doesn't provide any more light, it' just switches your light to a slightly higher elevation.

Joey D has a Blazer he should be able to confirm this bit of design ass-hattery.
 
These dog food containers we have in our garage. They stack up from big at the bottom then smallest at the top, there's three. Frequently, and I mean frequently, the bottom one caves in from the weight above and the two above tumble down and the dog food goes everywhere and I get to clean it up. :ouch:

Are they designed to hold the amount of weight you are putting in them? If not I would say that it is user error.
 
The light situation on the GTI is wierd. There are the high beams, which use the same bulbs as the lows, except when the lights are off and you flash (not turn on) the brights. Or the back lights. I can't figure out what I have to do to get half of them to work. Not a bad design, just odd. Probably just to make the car look cool.
 
Well... one "logical" way to tell if your high beams are on is if it brightens up the whole god damn road from the ground to the top of a skyscraper that should give you a hint yet these people think it's normal everything in front of them should be lit up. :rolleyes:
 
DWA
Well... one "logical" way to tell if your high beams are on is if it brightens up the whole god damn road from the ground to the top of a skyscraper that should give you a hint yet these people think it's normal everything in front of them should be lit up. :rolleyes:

:lol:

Dyson vacuums are very badly designed. First of all, the power switch on ours is on the right of the unit when it's stood upright, so if you want to switch it off whilst vacuuming and you're right handed, you have to either reach under your other arm with your left hand or let go of the vacuum to use your right hand to press the button.

Then there's the handle bit that disconnects to let you get into smaller areas, but because it's normally a handle the end has a little lid that only folds back far enough to expose half of the hose, which affects suction dramatically!

Then there's the attachments which are designed to click back into the top of the unit when not in use, but often end up splitting in half due to an indented ring in the neck of each one (for no apparent reason). Once they're split they won't go back into the holders! ARGH!

Not to mention that the hose on ours has split from regular use. :grumpy:

EDIT: Whilst I'm here, I remembered some more!

Mikomi Headseat - I only use this as headphones. They have a volume control unit thing between the headphones themselves and the laptop, so I can control the volume when I'm away from my computer. But on this unit is a bright blue LED that flashes all the time the headphones are plugged in. It does nothing, it just flashes when they're plugged in. That's it. If you don't cover it up with something it sits there flashing at you distracting your view!

Vauxhall Astra Mk3
My car is more annoying though, especially when I was trying to remove my stereo. For some reason the guys at Vauxhall decided to secure the head unit cage with a split clip that had to be gripped by pliers and squeezed before you could remove the cage. However, it was at the very back of the cage, inside the dashboard. This wouldn't have been a problem if it was facing sideways as I could get the pliers in but the bits that needed squeezing faced vertically! WHY?! In the end I removed it by smashing it to pieces with a small pair of pliers.

Then there's the airbox which is secured by clips that are easy enough to remove but when you try to replace them they either fall into the engine bay or won't click back into a secure position. The interior light controls are on my side near the wheel so passengers can't turn it on themselves which is annoying in the winter when they need to use it. Oh, and the car seems to store heat like nothing else on Earth. You can be parked in a fridge and when you get into my car it will be like an oven inside! It doesn't even have a black interior.
 
That is a product designed by an Industrial Designer so it should be a better product but the problem is if the user doesn't understand your design or what you intended it to do then it's bad design. With that said that Vacuum seems hyped. The features it has, how butt ugly it is, and how expensive it is doesn't seem worth it to me.
 
DWA
That is a product designed by an Industrial Designer so it should be a better product but the problem is if the user doesn't understand your design or what you intended it to do then it's bad design. With that said that Vacuum seems hyped. The features it has, how butt ugly it is, and how expensive it is doesn't seem worth it to me.

It's not, the suction on the one I use when I'm at my parents seems no better than the one I had in my flat this year and the one we had in the flat was cheaper and more practical! Dysons are horrible things. The hose is also not very stretchable so when you're on the floor trying to get into hard to reach areas the vacuum unit itself often wobbles worryingly above you! :lol:
 
Gil
Yes, that makes sense, but what I'm talking about is when the actual headlight low beams go off when the high beams come on.

They've been doing that in Chevy trucks so long that there is actually a kit available to bypass the cut-out and leave the low beams on.
If you have a Chevy, pull the turn signal stalk toward you gently in the dark.
You will note that just before the "click-over" to the High beams, you'll have both sets of lights.
Complete the click-over and the low beams go off.
It doesn't provide any more light, it' just switches your light to a slightly higher elevation.

Joey D has a Blazer he should be able to confirm this bit of design ass-hattery.

I think this might have something to do with stock headlights not always being able to handle the heat generated by both filaments being used at the same time on some cars. My car does this and I know it is because plastic headlight components will melt if there is too much heat. However this begs the question of WHY WOULD YOU NOT USE THE SAME ALL GLASS HEADLIGHT UNITS THAT ARE USED IN EUROPE AND PROVIDE BETTER LIGHT!!!
 
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