79 Painfully Obvious Design Mistakes That Somehow Slipped Through The Cracks

Good design is often barely noticeable. It just works. Bad design, on the other hand, sticks out like a sore thumb. While we might find many of these posts hilarious, horrible design shouldn’t be a laughing matter. Besides giving many of us a headache, it can cost companies, governments, and individuals a fortune.

In the words of internationally-recognized speaker, designer, and researcher Dr. Stephanie Evergreen, "Bad design costs big dollars." And in the words of Ralf Speth, the former CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, “If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”

Some may disagree, but Scott Berkun believes that no one sets out with the intention of making something that’s bad. "Most people try to do well," he writes. "If we’re disappointed by something, it might have just been the best they could do at the time."

Berkun is a bestselling author of books such as Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation and How Design Makes The World. He says that sometimes bad design comes down to general incompetence. In other words, if a company is bad at design, there's a good chance they're bad at other things too...

The expert says sometimes bad design happens because certain people simply don't care, or understand, why good design is important.

"Most tech executives have engineering or business backgrounds, and the strategies they rely on come from those perspectives. They may not be willing to take the risks of betting on design as a strategy for the first time in their career," he explains. "Or they may be stubborn, incompetent, or rendered impotent by the company founders or board of directors. This means the ability for a design leader to influence executives may be zero for no fault of the design leader."

Other times, says Berkun, bad design finds its way into the world because companies don't know who their customers really are and what they need He adds that in cases like this, the product can feel like it was designed by dozens of people who didn’t talk to each other.

"Instead, the goal should be for everyone to try to make the product feel like it was designed by one very thoughtful person who knew all the right details to care about," advises the design guru.

Business Solutions company Pegotec warns on its website that bad design can lead to serious business problems, including lost revenue, damaged reputation, and inefficiency.

Breaking it down further, the team says that a poorly designed website, app, or product can frustrate or annoy users. This could lead to abandoned purchases, fewer conversions, and increased customer support costs as people struggle with the product.

On the other hand, a positive user experience translates into higher satisfaction, increased engagement, and stronger customer loyalty.

Bad design can also damage your company or brand's reputation.

"First impressions matter," explains the Pegotec team. "If your design is clunky or unattractive, it can make your business seem unprofessional or unreliable. A well-designed product, on the other hand, builds trust and leaves a lasting positive impression."

Of course, bad design can also come back to bite you when you realize you need to do something about it.

"Fixing design mistakes after launch can be costly. Redesigns, rebranding efforts, and constant tweaks eat into your budget and resources," warns the Pegotec team, echoing the sentiments of other experts. "Investing in quality design from the beginning saves time and money in the long run."

At worst, your bad design could see you losing millions of dollars, just like Walmart did in 2009. They learned a very costly lesson when asking customers a simple question: "Would you like Walmart to be less cluttered?"

The vast majority of people responded with a resounding ‘yes,’ forcing the supermarket giant to spend hundreds of millions removing excess items from its stores, clearing aisles, and shortening its shelves.

"Despite Walmart removing only 15% of its inventory, sales plummeted, resulting in a $1.85 billion loss," reports W3 Lab. "The team that was responsible for this project got fired, and Walmart has since been trying to restore its old ‘cluttered’ look."

So going back to our point... at worst, bad design can end up costing you millions. At best, it can land you on a listicle such as this one, where you become the laughing stock of the internet, if only for a day.