We've all heard about crappy design, something that turns a blind eye to user-friendliness, logic and common sense, aesthetics, and people in general. We’re talking billboards, TV ads, product packaging and product design, websites and apps, you name it.
The phenomenon of crappy design is that no matter how much our marketing strategies and advertising techniques have evolved in the past decades, it still finds its place in our daily lives. Check out some examples of crappy design in Bored Panda’s previous features here, here and here.
This time, we are taking a step further. Sometimes the design is so annoying, senseless and defunct that it seems like the brands are doing this deliberately or at least without shame. There’s even a whole corner of reddit dedicated to cases “when a*** design things.”
With a whopping 2.9 million members, the community pokes fun at the mentality that “nothing comes before profit, especially not the consumer.” Below, we wrapped up some of the evilest designs, so let us know what you think of them in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
Ah Station Design
Cruelty. I was gonna make a comment about Tories, because they'd do this, but it's NYC.
I naively wanted to believe we're the only country that does something this cruel and stupid. Sigh. Jerks are everywhere.
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Too many people seem incapable of understanding that we all do better when we all do better.
Oh great, so when the train is delayed I’m supposed to….stand? On my legs that don’t work properly? And because you think that a couple of people without homes deserve no help at all. Ye gods, this planet man.
They do this everywhere now, also with the hostile architecture. Because the real issue is that Karen might have to look at a homeless person, not that actually living human beings have no where to sleep.
There're other considerations such as sanitation (urination and defecation), antisocial behaviour, drug use and increased crime such as theft and assault where homeless people tend to congregate to sleep.
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Yeah, let's punish the homeless just a little bit more. It infuriates me every time I hear about something that has been changed for the worst because of the homeless. If I go somewhere and see a homeless person sleeping on a bench I leave them be. For them that's their bed for the moment. If I see a homeless person sleeping in an area that's sheltered from the elements, that's their home for the moment. It may inconvenience me by not having a seat for the moment but they need that spot way more than I do at that moment. We should help these folks instead of acting like their the problem and making their life that much harder.
Thank you, Mr. Brown. No homeless person has ever threatened nor harmed or attempted to harm me, and I'm 62, lived all over the world and US. I wish I could fix this. But I leave them sleep, and if asked I carry change- and if they buy alcohol or drugs that's not my business. These are real human beings. Even if you don't approve, they are real human beings.
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"but the people we don't like lose more"... this was also the feeling after some local bike lane plans got cancelled by businesses who wanted parking instead. They got the bike lanes cancelled, didn't get their parking, but called it a success.
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This lack of empathy is exactly what's wrong with the world. We just don't give a s**t about other people.
At 80 & disabled, I had to stand in the rain with an elderly couple because one of the unhoused was using all four seats in the bus shelter to rest in the middle of the day. How are the pregnant, disabled and elderly helped any more by having benches filled with sleepers over having no benches?
Plenty of countries have "anti-sleep" benches for the homeless. Besides that I have NEVER been bothered by a sleeping homeless person. They have to sleep somewhere. Especially in winter where it warmer then above ground. Couldn't they just make single seat benches for disabled or pregnant women ?
So homelessness was the tipping point? Is NYC's aim to make itself as evil as possible?
I just really do not understand this. We've lost all compassion and common sense.
Many years ago the politicians decided to close psychiatric hospitals and discharged all the patients. Mental hygiene laws were changed which hogtied families so they have no chance of deciding what is the best way to help their loved ones, Many, not all have a treatable mental issue, but they are on the street. It is heartless removing the benches. As was quoted, pregnant women, the elderly and physically inpared also are being inconvenienced.
Why are cities so cruel to the homeless? Some cities even straight-up BAN people from feeding them!
That is so mean and hateful put the bench is back! So what if they sleep on them for things they don’t have a home. What is happened to America?
I'm all for keeping the bums from setting up camp in public areas, but elderly and pregnant need it.
I remember being in this awful situation about 15 years ago of being too scared to go home and no place to stay. Terrified I rode the train system between Sydney and Newcastle and back again in the night time. I did that for about 2 weeks until I could get into a refuge. I don't know what I would have done without having that sort of relief. So sad and cruel to take some sort of safe option away from what is a terrifying situation for so many people. I'm really saddened over this.
MDs don't prescribe opioids to old people [I've tried 7 MDs in Manhattan this year: PCPs, oncologists & pain-mgmnt docs]. These checken-s}{its are scared geezers will use them for suicide. Yet~~instead of building shelters to house those who can't afford astronomical rents [or build Affordable (permanent) Hsg]~~cities abolish benches so geriatrics can't rest their cartilage-free knees & arthritic backs [spinal stenosis is also degenerative & irreversible]. Other cultures revere their elderly who're full of wisdom & help gr'children & volunteer for tons of causes. Ageism in U.S. is metastatic~~few corps will hire anyone over 45. Where are Americans supposed to work to earn an income between 45 & 66 [the year we can collect Social Security]?! Sad, nasty country forces them to become consultants/freelancers~~w/low pay, no holiday/sick days' pay or vacation. Sick greedy country.
agreed, me and my family were homeless, and it was hard finding a place to sleep, we were so greatful for even a bench.
Homeless people using the subway as an apartment is not something that should be encouraged. It really makes the whole experience miserable for everyone. Many shelters with BEDS are available, but they aren’t used because they don’t allow certain activities.
Reminds me of this story, about the park bench Jesus in NC: https://www.npr.org/2014/04/13/302019921/statue-of-a-homeless-jesus-startles-a-wealthy-community
Wow the only benches that were left in NYC were the ones next to the tracks...
Everybody blames the Tories but labour and the liberals c**k up as well.
Unfortunately the homeless population in New York caused this by using the subway as a toilet, drug-dealing venue, and fighting rink. I feel terrible for those suffering from real mental illness, and I've worked hard to get the homeless help, in spite of everything they do to show how little they care, appreciate, or want help, but unfortunately the majority of them just want handouts so they can continue to score drugs and cause problems in public spaces. Like many others, I'm at my wits end.
It is because of the homeless people. They deserve dignity as they are people just like you and I.
I'm reading a lot of comments here bashing homeless folks for their own choices resulting in homelessness. I can recall when a majority of the population thought homosexuals and "sexual promiscuous" people DESERVED to be infected with HIV and other diseases. I can assure you without the support of my family my mental health would have very quickly resulted in me being in a situation with nowhere to go or the ability to care for myself. I dont think addiction is neccesarily a "disease" in the sense that you catch it but many people may be surprised to learn how quickly it takes hold. No, we dont want to have to tolerate unsanitary or unsafe public spaces due to individuals with mental health and addiction issues, but like many problems, you have to be able to point to a reliable solution. My first night in a homeless shelter (run by medical personnel and social workers) my belongings were stolen. Night two, a man sexually assaulted me. After that I couldn't bring myself to stay again
I didnt want sympathy, mostly I just wanted to be invisible. I had slept in public spaces because I felt safer than hiding under a bridge. I didnt have local family. I am happy to detail to anyone how fast your life can desolve. I'm nearing 40, with a degree, husband, two kids and a comfy life, but trust me, I'll never forget how a bench was a blessing
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They could have put benches with arms between each seat, hard to sleep that way.
They gave one. They did it to torture the homeless.
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We had upholstered wing chairs in the oldest section of our city library that were removed some years back because of that. They were there for over 20 years with no issues.
Im sick of cities just trying to make areas less friendly to homeless people to pretend they dont exist. That doesnt fix the problem, it just makes their lives that much harder.
I Think this is just dump and Stupid they should feel ashamed by taking the benches
Idea!!: some artist/sculptor should create an "instillation" of a whole bunch of benches and other seating, recliners, sofas, beach loungers, etc. and title it something like "take a load off" or "these seats for non-city planners only" or something clever. This is brilliant, anyone know an artist?
This statement reveals a whole lot of ignorance
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Why is anyone OBLIGATED to provide homeless places to camp out on while denying others the use of?
In the early 1970's, then governor of Republican-dominated California Ronald Reagan defunded all the state's institutional care for the mentally ill. The justification was that that the state's institutions were vile snake pits (they were), and that medication had rendered them obsolete. Subsequently, thousands of mentally ill people were dumped on the streets and told "Don't forget to take your pills." This is particularly ironic as many of them were paranoid schizophrenics who are often convinced that their medication is poison. ¶ Then President Richard Nixon promptly followed suit, and a Republican-dominated Congress voted to do the same at the Federal level. Every major city in America was abruptly flooded with thousands of “homeless” people, who’s defining characteristic was ludicrously spun as a housing problem. ¶ Since then, we’ve added thousands of combat veterans to this population, and tens of thousands of drug addicts whose health problem we’ve demonized and criminalized. ¶ There are no “homeless people.” There are only the least fortunate among us, who we’ve abandoned to die. Rather than face our national shame and correct our mistake, we instead deny such people even a bench to sleep on, presumably in hope that they’ll die and we’ll no longer have to feel guilty about what we’ve done. In the meantime, desperate, filthy, crazy, sick people camp out in our major cities, providing us with a useful reminder of what happens to Americans who won’t or can’t continue to be of use to our ruling class.
May I please see your sources? (not lazy or trying to be rude) .I just want to see where I might find this exact information.
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You may be surprised to learn that homelessness and drastic measures such as this aren't limited to the United States. I dont know where you are from but just commenting "'merica" is so ignorant and unintelligent
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Based on your other comments youre the top example of someone who takes one event and uses it to speak for everyone in a group. Simply pushing them into the shadows doesnt fix the homelessness problem. It just makes their life harder. Do you have any empathy?
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Appstore For You
Bad design can be found everywhere, from the products we use every day to the websites we visit. Poorly designed products can be difficult to use, causing us to waste time and energy. They can also be dangerous, as faulty product or packaging designs can lead to accidents.
Meanwhile, websites with bad design can be hard to navigate, preventing us from finding the information we need. They can also be visually unappealing, making us less likely to return. At the same time app can have a very bad user experience which means people will be reluctant to use it. From confusing navigation to cluttered layouts, anyone can spot a very poor design.
Brand New Protein Powder, Not Even Filled Half Whey
Felt Like This Sub Would Appreciate This Statement
Screw You Pinterest
Your content fills up and pollutes the search engine results yet people can’t even view your bulls**t user-submitted content without signing up for a damn account. Going to add to you to my Personal Blocklist so you don’t appear in my searches and waste my time anymore.
Pinterest is a cesspool. I found some of my facebook photos had been uploaded on pinterest. A girl (wannabe maker/influencer/scammer) reuploaded them with her watermark and used them as example of her creations. Had to subscribe to the website to report the images, and after weeks of waiting... nothing happened. Zero answers, support or even an automated mail. In the meanwhile those images were stolen by others and popped around for a while on other websites, mostly on ads of promoting scams. Stopped uploading my work anywhere.
Jerk designs seem to take a step further than simply bad designs and come across as downright unethical and immoral. They snuck their way into the products and services we consume, and sometimes we don’t even notice them.
According to Danny Sapio, the lead product designer at Method and cofounder of Confettihabits.com, shrinkflation is a classic case of less product and more profit. “Companies use this tactic to discreetly sell less of a product at the same price that it was before.”
Moreover, Sapio argues that “companies can do this through labeling by displaying “FAMILY SIZE” or “PARTY SIZE” despite it being the same amount as the regular item.” For us, the unsuspecting shoppers, it’s something that’s really easy to miss.
Trashy Company
Hellofresh. If I Don’t Need To Call To Make Orders, I Shouldn’t Need To Call To Unsubscribe
Cashing In On That *cough*
Another great example of jer design practices is the use of lethal enforcers. They require the user to take the action that the company wants before they can do what they intend to do.
“Lethal enforcers are essentially a way that companies gatekeep the decision making for users. Instead of giving users a free choice, the company decides for the individual the decision that should be made then makes that their only choice,” Sapio explained.
An example of a lethal enforcer is when you want to write a review on Yelp but have to download the brand’s app first. “Or when a company suppresses relevant search results to display sponsored products or content.”
I Want My Money Back
I Chose The Bottle Because A Tube Wasn't Enough! This Trojan Trickery Is An Abuse Coming From A Brand With Recognition
Well here’s a company that cares FA about both its customers and the environment.
Bought These Sticky Notes Cause I Thought The Gold Border Was Nice
Sapio also urges to look out for one of the trick questions known as the loaded questions. They take an advantage of our good nature. “We assume that we don’t need to read the entire question because we’ve already collected the information we need to answer it.”
Natural Is A Trademark
So It Was A Lie
Really?
Another very shady design practice is throttling. “Throttling is when a company intentionally downgrades the service or product with the hopes that the customer upgrade. This is different than forced obsolescence because the product still works; it’s just much slower and shittier than it used to be,” the product designer explained.
It turns out that even giant brands like Apple have been found guilty of this. Apple has settled a class-action lawsuit over its practice of slowing down older iPhones, agreeing to pay up to $500 million to impacted consumers.
“Another example is ‘unlimited’ data providers that sneakily slow down internet speeds once they pass a certain threshold of data usage,” Sapio concluded.
Youtuber Gets Every Single Video On His Channel Copyright Claimed Despite Having The Rights To All The Music In His Videos
This Mcdonalds Menu
Just hold up the queue on purpose till the ad finishes, so you can choose what you want!
Both Weigh 500g But The Green One Is In A 30% "Bigger Bag More To Share"
Customer: it's a bigger bag with more chips. Company: no no, it's just a bigger bag
Cup Design That Makes The Drink Look Like It Has Actual Fruit
Disney Leaves The Inside Of Their $6 Icecream Hollow
The Sticker Was A Lie
Amazon Prime Video Doesn't Tell You If A Show Is Unavailable In Your Country Until After You Subscribe To Amazon Prime
This Design Pisses Me Off Every Single Day
Unremovable Ads On My $2,500 Samsung Smart TV
Spending $175 On A Textbook Only To Receive A 2 Inch Stack Of Unbound Papers. Binder Sold Separately!
Dislikes Helped You Know If A Video Was A Scam, Misleading Or Had False Information
Read: We intend to continue to host questionable content as long as it generates revenue for us, and no, we’re not going be transparent about it, because that will obviously also affect our revenue.
Literal Hell For Budget Flyers - Standing Seats
Hey This Hotel Room Is Only $99 A Night, Great Deal!!!
They should have just said the hotel is FREE, then charge the $99 as a booking fee or something. Who wouldn't like a FREE hotel, eh?
They Replaced Half The Mirrors In My Local Shopping Mall's Bathroom With Advertising Boards!
Heard We Are Having A Rigged Democracy Binge
The Fact That You Can't Uninstall Facebook On Certain Phones
They Decided To Completely Cover Their Tenants' Windows With Ads Because Who Needs Natural Light And Fresh Air?
My Work Place’s ‘Low Plastic, Recyclable Eco-Pens’ Have A Secret At Their Core
My Age Preferences Are There For A Reason, Tinder
Keurig Sensor Blocks Your Brew Unless It's "K-Cup Compatible", Aka Has Scannable Foil. Slap On An Old Foil To A 3rd Party Cup And Suddenly No Issue
Such A Great Deal!
My Chinese "Smart TV" Plays A 15 Second Chevrolete Commercial Every Time I Turn It On
Perfectly Fine Lighters With No Way To Refuel Them... Planned Obsolescence Is Asshole Design And Terrible For The Environment
As**ole School System Charging Kids For Lunch And Then Blaming Parents
My Printer Just Did A Firmware Update And No Longer Recognizes My Third-Party Ink
Shrinkflation Used By Cadbury To Literally Cut Corners. The Bottom Chocolate Bar Is More Than 8 Percent Smaller
Mess with my sandwich, mess with my glue… BUT DO NOT MESS WITH MY CHOCOLATE
5$ Pen Size vs. Ink
Designed For Dissuading The Homeless. Literally Just Uncomfortable For Everyone Else
Why do people do this stuff? Like, if you dont want people to sleep on the streets, there are infinitely better things to do
8% Alcohol Or
Food Delivery Service That Tells You “Someone Is At The Door! Okay We Lied”
I Wish My Professors Graded Like This
Press Dismiss To Update This Printer
Facebook, I'm Beyond Words
Tenerife Airport Shows Ads On The Flight Information Screens Every Few Minutes (For At Least A Minute), So If You're Unlucky You Have To Wait Before Knowing Which Gate To Go To
F**k You Vegas
Note: this post originally had 73 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Can we talk about the horrific design behind the downvoting system on this site? Down votes are not dislikes, downvotes get you suspended and then banned. And there are anonymous trolls who follow popular Pandas and downvote comments for no rhyme or reason.
I got banned for a day last week, I backtracked my comments and I hadn’t written anything polarizing or remotely vulgar/offensive etc. i still for the life of me can’t figure out why I was banned and I tried to ask BP for clarification but zilch
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Screw this. This fight against greedy capitalistic demons will never be won if our only hope is waiting for gov official to protect the people. We need to bring back the guillotine and go all french on these bastards.
Bad sirs, you sit on a throne of lies. Thirty percent more lies, to be exact.
Can we add Amazon delivery times to the list? (or did I miss it?) So many times I see "Buy within the next 3 hours to receive it TODAY" So i buy it as i really need it quick only to see. . "Estimated delivery time: TOMORROW". . . Why Amazon? WHY?
The main problem is that it isn’t sustainable to expect people who are poorly paid and poorly treated to bring you whatever you want on the same day you order it.
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1> It took a site 30 seconds to start sending spam to my email, but they want up to 10 days to make it STOP? 2> "... and other natural flavors" - wtf?
One of my favorites was the label on a Mr Goodbar. It proudly proclaimed, "Now! More peanuts!" I suppose it wouldn't help sales if they advertised it as having less chocolate.
Dumb design: Disney Plus doesn't even have all the Disney / marvel movies and it makes me mad 'cause like??? Why does it cost that much then, if you're gonna make people pay to watch the movies that aren't there too- Signed, a girl who got bored and thought she'd watch Spider-Man, the old ones OR into the spider verse and none were there
Can we include Youtube thumbnails for videos that do not feature in any form whatsoever within the video.
I can see why you'd consider it humiliating, but all I thought was how impressed I was that you were willing to give the inside view. Super bad s**t can happen to anyone, and we only think we have control of our situations.
Stellar journalism as always: 1) Report on what someone said 2) Report on what a bunch of nobodies ("Twitter user Katy") said about it. 3) Publish it under the assumption that it qualifies as journalism.
And yet with a quick scroll through you’ll easily find Japanese companies, U.K. companies, Chinese, American, and a few that have no clear country. If the agenda is attacking the U.S. then they are certainly mixing plenty of other nations in there. As for anti-capitalism that’s because these issues relate to being conned by companies, perhaps if they put customers first rather than profit they’d represent capitalism a bit better? It MAY be that capitalism isn’t as good as it could be? It MAY be that you are sucking a bit too much from the capitalism teat? Defending the big business who’ll strip all of your assets is a little hmmm sheepish ain’t it?
Load More Replies... Can we talk about the horrific design behind the downvoting system on this site? Down votes are not dislikes, downvotes get you suspended and then banned. And there are anonymous trolls who follow popular Pandas and downvote comments for no rhyme or reason.
I got banned for a day last week, I backtracked my comments and I hadn’t written anything polarizing or remotely vulgar/offensive etc. i still for the life of me can’t figure out why I was banned and I tried to ask BP for clarification but zilch
Load More Replies... Screw this. This fight against greedy capitalistic demons will never be won if our only hope is waiting for gov official to protect the people. We need to bring back the guillotine and go all french on these bastards.
Bad sirs, you sit on a throne of lies. Thirty percent more lies, to be exact.
Can we add Amazon delivery times to the list? (or did I miss it?) So many times I see "Buy within the next 3 hours to receive it TODAY" So i buy it as i really need it quick only to see. . "Estimated delivery time: TOMORROW". . . Why Amazon? WHY?
The main problem is that it isn’t sustainable to expect people who are poorly paid and poorly treated to bring you whatever you want on the same day you order it.
Load More Replies... 1> It took a site 30 seconds to start sending spam to my email, but they want up to 10 days to make it STOP? 2> "... and other natural flavors" - wtf?
One of my favorites was the label on a Mr Goodbar. It proudly proclaimed, "Now! More peanuts!" I suppose it wouldn't help sales if they advertised it as having less chocolate.
Dumb design: Disney Plus doesn't even have all the Disney / marvel movies and it makes me mad 'cause like??? Why does it cost that much then, if you're gonna make people pay to watch the movies that aren't there too- Signed, a girl who got bored and thought she'd watch Spider-Man, the old ones OR into the spider verse and none were there
Can we include Youtube thumbnails for videos that do not feature in any form whatsoever within the video.
I can see why you'd consider it humiliating, but all I thought was how impressed I was that you were willing to give the inside view. Super bad s**t can happen to anyone, and we only think we have control of our situations.
Stellar journalism as always: 1) Report on what someone said 2) Report on what a bunch of nobodies ("Twitter user Katy") said about it. 3) Publish it under the assumption that it qualifies as journalism.
And yet with a quick scroll through you’ll easily find Japanese companies, U.K. companies, Chinese, American, and a few that have no clear country. If the agenda is attacking the U.S. then they are certainly mixing plenty of other nations in there. As for anti-capitalism that’s because these issues relate to being conned by companies, perhaps if they put customers first rather than profit they’d represent capitalism a bit better? It MAY be that capitalism isn’t as good as it could be? It MAY be that you are sucking a bit too much from the capitalism teat? Defending the big business who’ll strip all of your assets is a little hmmm sheepish ain’t it?
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