The Bad-Designs Showcase

This is where you'll find the biggest collection of Bad Design examples from daily life!!!

The Bad Designs were collected over the years from the user submitted entries for the World Usability Day Contests under the name "Boycott Bad Designs".

Clogging of Kitchen-sink

name not revealed!?

After the dish-washing the kitchen sink gets choked.

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2005 - 11.13.

Car Bumper Hitting the Pavement

M., Kiran, Hyderabad

While parking the car along the pavement there are chances of the bumper hitting the pavement.

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2005 - 11.02.

No Bus Number on Side of the Bus

B.Roja Reddy, SVCA, Hyderabad

Bus number is only displayed on the front and the back but it should also be present on the side of a bus.

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2005 - 11.02.

Window Position for People Standing in Bus

S. Shravani Gupta, SVCA, Hyderabad

Window position is improper when we consider people standing in bus who need to bend down again and again to catch the glimpse of approaching bus stop.

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2005 - 11.02.

Foot-rest of Honda Activa

Hitesh Bagai, Chennai

Every time one has to open the foot rest by hand, the position of this element is such that it just cannot be opened by foot.

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2005 - 11.02.

Ketchup bottle

Shruti Ramalingam, India

Ketchup being viscous in nature, it is difficult to pour it from a glass bottle.

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2005 - 11.02.

Shampoo Sachet

Shauraya Rawat, IISc, Bangalore

Shampoo sachets cannot be easily opened with wet hands.

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2005 - 11.02.

Train Berths of a 3 Tier Bogie

Shauraya Rawat, IISc,Banglore

The berths of a 3 tier bogie don’t provide enough head space. When someone is sleeping on the middle berth, people on middle as well as lower berths can no even sit due to less head space.

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2005 - 11.02.

Styrofoam Cups

Abhishek Bali, New Delhi, India

While using a Styrofoam cup one does not have any clue of the temperature of the liquid contained inside it.

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2005 - 11.02.

Tip of Adhesive Tape for Tearing

Shibika Choudhary , IITKanpur

Adhesive tape rolls tends to stick back on the roll after use, if not mounted on a tape dispenser properly. Each time one has to search its end.

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2005 - 11.02.

Taps, Flush and Toilet Doors in Public Places

Kamesh Somalanka, Hyderabad, India

In Indian scenario, most of the people prefer to use water in toilets. But in public toilets, in toilets at railway stations or at the bus stations it is unhygienic to use flush, mugs or even the soap bar with hands.

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2005 - 11.02.

Toilet pan

Kamesh Somalanka, Hyderabad

The level of water in the commode is such that with every chunk of stool that falls in water has to spill and splash on person using the commode.

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2005 - 11.02.

Chips Pack

Anindya Kastha, IITKanpur, India

Many branded potato chips sold in pillow pouches cause problem because opening those packet requires considerable amount of pinch grip strength.

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2005 - 11.02.

Oil Containers - Pouches and Bottles

Anindya Kastha, IITKanpur, India

The medium sized (1 liter) liquid filled pouches like milk pouches; edible oil pouches etc. used in homes have many issues of handling. Same is the case with oil bottles.

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2005 - 11.02.

Fevikwik Tube Outlet

Anindya Kastha, IITKanpur

The outlet of a small Fevikwik tube is hard to re-open as it easily gets stuck due to strong adhesive.

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2005 - 11.02.

Honda Dio

Satish Shastry, Bangalore

While pillion gets off the seat, be it a Saree or pant, it invariably gets struck in he side protrusion of the stand being.

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2005 - 11.02.

Bajaj back kick

Usability team, Hyderabad

Bajaj Scooter needs to be tilted before starting.

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2005 - 11.02.

Plastic moulded chairs

Ravi Shankar B., IIIT, Hyderabad

The plastic molded chairs are light weight and made of brittle material. With heavy load they tend to split at the bottom.

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2005 - 11.02.

Silencer Placement

Sumiran Pandya, NID, Ahmedabad

Silencer of the a is badly placed as after some time it produces heat which is dangerous if someone happens to touch it unknowingly.

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2005 - 11.02.

USB Drive and USB Insertion Port on CPU

Shauraya Rawat, IISc, Bangalore

By looking at a USB drive or even the USP insertion port on the CPU one cannot make out the way to insert into the port.

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2005 - 11.02.

Ventilator Pane Cleaning

Shauraya Rawat,IISc,Banglore

Cleaning of ventilator panes is a very tedious job and becomes very difficult if one has to clean each and every component of it.

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2005 - 11.02.

Most of the mobile phone chargers or power adapters come with two point pin that doesn’t always fit well into a normal switch board and as a result it keeps on hanging from it.

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2005 - 11.02.

Usha Lexus Mixer Grinder Lid

Yogish L. Shettigar, Hyderabad, India

One needs to open the lid at least 5-6 times, to grind something in this chutney jar!!

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2005 - 11.02.

Lead Pencil

Yogesh Kumar Baghel, IISc, Bangalore

Lead pencil pen has poor lead holding mechanism as it does not utilize the last 25% of lead’s length.

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2005 - 11.02.

When ever scanning a page the scanner will add a shadow or water mark effect to the scanned image.

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2005 - 11.02.

Computer Keyboard Cleaning

Reshama Parveen, NID, India

Cleaning the keyboard is a task in itself as the dust gets in between the keys.

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2005 - 11.02.

Power Adapters in Cell Phones

Kamesh Somalanka, Hyderabad, India

People find it very inconvenient to carry the Adapter / Charger along with them where ever they travel.

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2005 - 11.02.

Wire of Pressing Iron

Reshma Parveen, NID, Ahmedabad,India

It is very inconvenient to lift up the iron and place iron at its base as the wire always hinders. Hence the iron keeps falling down and may end up burning clothes if not noticed immediately.

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2005 - 11.02.

Clothes Hanger

Reshma Parveen, NID, Ahemdabad

Clothes always slip off the smooth metal hangers with tapering sides and sometimes fall down or fly off when there is wind blowing.

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2005 - 11.02.

Thumbtack (Hardboard pin)

Abhijit Kr Bairagi, IITKanpur, India

The problem with the thumbtack has everything to do with the thumb or thumbnail to be more precise. Using it to secure something on a soft board is not a problem. The problem lies in taking it out.

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2005 - 11.02.

Paper Wastage in ATM’s

Sunil Kolla, Hyderabad, India

Many people take statement printouts for every transition and throw it in the dustbin in the ATM-Room. In one hour we can see the bin gets filled.

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2005 - 11.02.

Currency Note

Shama Rasal, Hyderabad

The currency notes are too confusing if one goes only by their size and color, which form the criteria for choosing a currency note for payment. One has to recheck every time he or she has to make some payment. Checking has to be more careful while counting a bundle of notes or a big amount.

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2005 - 11.02.

Soluble Detergent Cakes

UI team, Hyderabad

Detergent cakes are ‘actually’ soluble in water. After using it for a while one can actually dip the detergent case into a bucket full of water and you have liquid detergent ready.

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2005 - 11.02.

Glasses for People with Spectacles

Aseem Gupta, IIIT, Hyderabad

While watching a 3D movie one has to wear 3D spectacles, which is quite exciting. But what about those who are already having their glasses on.

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2005 - 11.02.

How to figure out a Dead Battery and a Working One?

B.Kishore Kumar, Hyderabad, India

‘Hit and try’ or better call it ‘put and try’! If one forgets to throw away dead batteries right at the first time, then they are sure to be thrown out the next time.

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2005 - 11.02.

Two Way Switches

K.Ajay, Hyderabad, India

A two-way switch can be identified by looking at it, but what about entering a dark room and figuring out whether it has been switched off or the tube itself is gone?

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2005 - 11.02.

Nokia 7600

Bharthi Padma B, Hyderabad, India

This leaf shaped mobile is not comfortable to hold.

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2005 - 11.02.

Three Way Switch

B.Ravi.Kiran, Hyderabad, India

Switch is a connotation for any on-off situation. The switch here works actually three ways but only two conditions are represented.

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2005 - 11.02.

Fuel Indicator

M. Sidharth Goud, Hyderabad, India

The fuel indicator of Honda Unicorn bike indicates the value as zero even if there is 2 to 3 liters of petrol left in it.

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2005 - 11.02.

LCD Projector Remote

Shibika Choudhary, IIT Kanpur, India

This remote control of a Sanyo projector has very confusing and improper interface which hampers its functioning.

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2005 - 11.02.

Eureka Forbes Water Purifier

Yogish L. Shettigar, Hyderabad, India

This product is designed in such a way that one has to hold the bottle/ glass in his or her hands always while filling water.

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2005 - 11.02.

“Insert Card” Message

Girish Lone, IIT Kanpur, India

Mobile phones are not available offline i.e. without inserting the SIM card one cannot access even the independent features which could be used offline, e.g. Games.

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2005 - 11.02.

Canon 300X SLR, 350 DSLR "Lens Cap"

Girish Lone, IIT Kanpur, India

Canon is one of the best known camera makers. This particular camera, no wonder is good but has a lens cap with out any string that holds it to the camera.

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2005 - 11.02.

Flair Angular Pen

Girish Lone, IIT Kanpur, India

This is a ball point pen with "strangely" shaped front tip, called Angular Tip by the manufacturer. This angular point adds nothing to the utility on the contrary only adds to the inconvenience while writing.

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2005 - 11.02.

Nail Cutter

Reshma Parveen, Ahmedabad , India

Cutting nails with a nail cutter is an easy job, but collecting the pieces of nails scattered all over the place is definitely not as easy.

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2005 - 11.02.

Power Switch

Sharvari Ghosh, Banglore, India

This is the MCB Main Power Switch in any house. People generally get confused with its On/Off functionality.

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2005 - 11.02.
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