(by 8 people)
It's not just Web sites that can be poorly designed. Products and places can, too. For the good of the companies (they'll make more money), and for the good of the customers (they'll have a good experience), we need to highlight the best of the worst and say, "This is broken!" We're just trying to help!
The Best of 2005
- Broken: Pliers Package
- You need pliers to open the package, to get to the pliers!
- Broken: Safety Belt Strap Warning
- Don't sit on a pillow while reading the phone book?
- Broken: Men's Room Sign in Braille
- The lowest point of the sign is still more than eight feet above the ground.
- Broken: Diversity Logo
- They have chosen to place the slogan "Walk the Talk" right above an icon of a wheelchair-bound person. Very clever.
- Broken: Digital Thermometer Shape
- The pressure from my teeth isn't enough to get a grip on the very smooth, tapered shaft of this instrument.
Automotive Interaction Design Mistakes
- Impractically tiny back seats
- Non-standard outside door handles
- Impractical clock-setting mechanisms
- Relevant information out of reach
- Unlabeled controls, identical controls, and non-control controls
The Best of 2004
- Broken: Wine Cork Warning Label
- This warning label very clearly warns against letting the cork fly into your eye!
- Broken: (Rerun) Playground Design
- "If you don't place nice, now, you know what's going to happen..."
- Broken: Microsoft Word Spellcheck
- I had misspelled the word "categories" as "catorgies." Microsoft Word's spellcheck decided that the phrase "cat orgies" was the most likely replacement!
- Broken: Square Toilet
- The toilet is square. My butt, like most, is round.
The Best of 2003
- Broken: Bose Radio Buttons
- As someone who regularly relies on the snooze button to ease my way into wakefulness, the proximity of these buttons has caused some problems.
