“Really Bad Design Memes” Is A Place Online Where Designers Go For A Good Laugh (30 Pics)
Whether you're a freelancer or in-house designer, chances are, you've experienced quite the amount of annoying situations on the job. After all, working in a fast-paced environment, dealing with unreasonable clients and ridiculous demands can be challenging. But even when these struggles seem overwhelming, it's always good to lift our spirits by poking fun at them and letting out a few genuine laughs.
Enter the Really Bad Design Memes Instagram account, dedicated to sharing hilarious pics about what being a User Experience (UX) designer is all about. Self-naming themselves as "The Cleveland Browns of meme pages," the creators ask you not to take your job too seriously and offer you a variety of jokes to ease everyday stress.
So get ready to dive into the best and most hilarious posts we have collected from the account. Upvote the ones that cracked you up, and let us know what you think about them in the comments below!
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This has always bothered me because I'm already not getting paid when I'm sick, and now you want me to pay for a doctor's appointment, and not only that, but a last minute one? That means immediate care, which means an even bigger bill. You want a note? Pay for it.
That actually sounds like a great premise twist on a reality TV show. A hidden cam show about how long someone can pose as an employee before getting caught.
To find out more about the struggles of this profession and how bad design can lead to unfortunate results, we managed to get in touch with Jonathan Shariat, a designer with more than 10 years of experience in the field and co-author of Tragic Design: The Impact of Bad Product Design and How to Fix It.
He told us that when a design "harms people physically, angers them, excludes people, or causes injustice", it is regarded as terrible. "Design is the decisions made about how someone will use and experience the things we make, sometimes we fail to think through the implications of those decisions and it ends up causing harm to others," he added.
We also reached out to Nick Babich, a product designer and a blogger, who also had a few thoughts to add. He mentioned that lack of communication and creativity are also the root causes of why some designs end up looking bad. "Lack of communication leads to bad product design decisions, while lack of creativity leads to poor aesthetics." While dozens of new products are released daily, he assured that "not all of them are created by experienced product teams."
This explains why sometimes it can start to feel like poorly designed products are all around us. Shariat said that one reason behind it is that good design isn’t easy. If people want to create something that has a purpose and is delightful to interact with, it takes a lot of learning and experience in the field. "Good design requires us to think about and understand others," Shariat explained. "That doesn't come naturally for most of us but always makes things better."
So when professionals fail to do that, certain choices they make can seriously affect other people. When a product has flaws, "the negative impact can be pretty severe," Babich told us. "Just imagine a medical device (i.e., heart rate monitor) that shows incorrect data about the user’s health (i.e., shows a status "Everything is okay" while the user experiences problems with his health)." The outcome can be rather dramatic.
The "would you have explained the same thing if she had been a man?" part is missing.
Shariat also provided a few examples of how bad design can impact our lives. "A confusing control in your car could distract you and cause an accident. Hospital staff could accidentally enter into a pump 10x the medication for a patient. A confusing voting system can cause people's votes to be thrown out or worse, vote for the wrong person."
"We rely on design every day for critical things, and sometimes they fail us and people get hurt, or it causes major financial damage," he said. But when it comes to design ethics, being concerned about them "isn't just about avoiding harming others," Shariat added. "Ethical design has also been shown to be much more effective and builds long-term, sustainable business growth!"
Not just an engineer. I imagine this went through a whole multi-step approval process.
They were probably like, if it's unusable while it's charging, then their sheep will buy two!
Lots of people are still moaning about this despite having a very good explanation and reasoning. These mice can charge in 5 min to last for 8-10 hours of use. The connector is on the bottom to prevent users keeping the cable plugged in while not charging.
That's the whole point... That mouse needs charging once a longtime. Just like how apple used to make their charging cables very short so that people don't use the device whilst it's use. It's about preserving the actual battery from degradation
Yes, but as long as it is by Apple, people will still buy tons of it and pretend they like it just to show everyone how cool and rich they are.
That's the whole point of Apple marketing. They want you to believe, that you belong to an exclusive circle and are something special. And for that you love to pay a bit more.
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Also remember young pups, the original internet couldn’t be used if someone was on the phone. Small steps lead to great leaps.
Give me an excuse ... "Sorry I did not respond immediately, I had to charge the mouse"
Nope, there was an design engineer group, UI/UX designer, user group, design engineer acceptance group and several managers who signed off on this "idea".
Because they don't want their mouse to used with a cable, aesthetics !
I actually own that same mouse and wondered why it was designed like this
This was done on purpose. You have to buy TWO mice. One charging, while you use the other.
Smart in a way because you’ll have to buy a second one to use while first is charging🤔
If they can't steal the design from another company .. (Braun) then apple doesn't know what to do
This is by design. Iirc they said they didn't want any pictures of the mouse being plugged in whilst sat on a desktop. Ultimate form over function rubbish.
it lasts about a month of daily use after a 20-30 min charge... the area that you click is nice and slim, its ergonomic.. show me a better mouse... had mine for 3+ years now.. zero issues..
More like "just remember you were gullible enough to buy apple products"
Its not stupid engineer, just clever marketing to buy two even if you need one
I agree with other comments that this was deliberately designed like this, but I dont think the main reason is that people wouldnt use it while plugged in.. I think they just wanted to make as sleek looking mouse they could, and hiding the charging port underneath allows that.
No no just need to buy the $399 apple mouse pad compatible with the cord placment. Not wireless.
There is a reason for it and I watched a video explaining it, but it's a stupid reason
I'm pretty sure they just assumed that people would charge it at night like phones (or whenever your downtime / sleep time is) then that would literally never be a problem.
Makes think of the MacBook Wheel. https://youtu.be/9BnLbv6QYcA
Probably done on purpose in the hopes that customers would buy an extra mouse so they could still use their ridiculously expensive computer while their mouse is charging.
That engineer was a genius. It's not about functionality, it's about revenue for the company. Having the plug in the bottom means that you are more likely to buy a second mouse to have while one is charging. It also means that if the battery stops holding a charge, your mouse is worthless. If the plug were on the side, you could still use it as a "wired" mouse after the battery is fully degraded, but this way you are forced to buy a new one.
Part of me feels this was intentionally "accidental" in order to get people to buy a 2nd mouse for when the first was charging... because Apple.
Considering a charge for a mouse can last a year, I see the problem.
They just wanted you to take a break, stretch your legs, smell the roses.
When it comes to the struggles of being a UI/UX designer, one of the biggest challenges is "seeing things from other people's perspectives. Different people can experience the same thing much differently," he added. "It's the job of a designer to understand their users and find what works best for all of them."
Meanwhile, Nick Babich believes constant learning is both a blessing and a curse of product design. "You have to process a lot of information on a daily basis to create a good design," he told Bored Panda.
When we're dealing with such struggles, memes are a great way to find shelter from the burdens of our everyday lives. They help us unwind, connect with other people, and, of course, let out a laugh or two. Jonathan Shariat admitted that jokes absolutely help to get into a better mood. "For example, when I was stressed about how frustrating it can be to see your design fail as you watch people test it out and your assumptions become evident, it can feel [difficult]. When you see something that perfectly expresses how you are feeling, it's very therapeutic," he said.
I just read a comment from a guy who said he was not qualified to apply for a job because they required 5 years experience with a software program that HE INVENTED 2 years ago. 😂
And Babich also agrees with this line of thinking. He mentioned that he recently researched anxiety and depression in product design, and found that it’s a serious problem in the field. "I think humor is an integral part of our lives, and we need to smile more when we work," he added. "A positive mood gives us an energy boost, protects us from anxiety, and helps us create good UX."
So it’s not surprising that category-specific meme accounts are becoming more and more popular. Such images and jokes are the perfect "bites" of content that always allow us to distract ourselves from our troubles. After all, there’s nothing like looking at a few hilarious pictures to improve our mood.
The designer can design anything they want, but if it isn't technically feasible or is prohibitively expensive you have to do what you have to do.
Note: this post originally had 93 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Too bad most of them have nothing to do with the headline
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"The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman. It's a 20+ Year old book, probably dated in some parts, but still worth a read.
These are good... but what happened to the bad design memes. We need more of those 😁
Young people today have a huge opportunity to set themselves apart from their peers by simply showing up for work and showing initiative.
Old people today have the same opportunity, though most people are pretty pleased when someone over 50 just isn't actively trying to make everyone else feel bad to cover for their own lost sense of self.
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Too bad most of them have nothing to do with the headline
Load More Replies... "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman. It's a 20+ Year old book, probably dated in some parts, but still worth a read.
These are good... but what happened to the bad design memes. We need more of those 😁
Young people today have a huge opportunity to set themselves apart from their peers by simply showing up for work and showing initiative.
Old people today have the same opportunity, though most people are pretty pleased when someone over 50 just isn't actively trying to make everyone else feel bad to cover for their own lost sense of self.
Load More Replies... 