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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.
#1
Ah Station Design
RELATED:
#3
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.
#4
Brand New Protein Powder, Not Even Filled Half Whey
#5
Felt Like This Sub Would Appreciate This Statement
#6
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.
Jrog 3 years ago
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.
#7
Trashy Company
#8
Hellofresh. If I Don’t Need To Call To Make Orders, I Shouldn’t Need To Call To Unsubscribe
#9
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.”
#10
I Want My Money Back
#11
I Chose The Bottle Because A Tube Wasn't Enough! This Trojan Trickery Is An Abuse Coming From A Brand With Recognition
Hippopotamuses 3 years ago
Well here’s a company that cares FA about both its customers and the environment.
#12
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.”
#13
Natural Is A Trademark
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.
#16
Youtuber Gets Every Single Video On His Channel Copyright Claimed Despite Having The Rights To All The Music In His Videos
#17
This Mcdonalds Menu
Mohsie Supposie 3 years ago
Just hold up the queue on purpose till the ad finishes, so you can choose what you want!
#18
Both Weigh 500g But The Green One Is In A 30% "Bigger Bag More To Share"
Adam Chang 3 years ago
Customer: it's a bigger bag with more chips. Company: no no, it's just a bigger bag
#19
Cup Design That Makes The Drink Look Like It Has Actual Fruit
#20
Disney Leaves The Inside Of Their $6 Icecream Hollow
#21
The Sticker Was A Lie
#22
Amazon Prime Video Doesn't Tell You If A Show Is Unavailable In Your Country Until After You Subscribe To Amazon Prime
#23
This Design Pisses Me Off Every Single Day
#24
Unremovable Ads On My $2,500 Samsung Smart TV
#25
Spending $175 On A Textbook Only To Receive A 2 Inch Stack Of Unbound Papers. Binder Sold Separately!
#26
Dislikes Helped You Know If A Video Was A Scam, Misleading Or Had False Information
Hippopotamuses 3 years ago (edited)
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.
#27
Literal Hell For Budget Flyers - Standing Seats
#28
Hey This Hotel Room Is Only $99 A Night, Great Deal!!!
Mohsie Supposie 3 years ago
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?
#29
They Replaced Half The Mirrors In My Local Shopping Mall's Bathroom With Advertising Boards!
#30
Heard We Are Having A Rigged Democracy Binge
#31
The Fact That You Can't Uninstall Facebook On Certain Phones
#32
They Decided To Completely Cover Their Tenants' Windows With Ads Because Who Needs Natural Light And Fresh Air?
#33
My Work Place’s ‘Low Plastic, Recyclable Eco-Pens’ Have A Secret At Their Core
#34
My Age Preferences Are There For A Reason, Tinder
#35
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
#36
Such A Great Deal!
#37
My Chinese "Smart TV" Plays A 15 Second Chevrolete Commercial Every Time I Turn It On
#38
Perfectly Fine Lighters With No Way To Refuel Them... Planned Obsolescence Is Asshole Design And Terrible For The Environment
Khara Mei 3 years ago (edited)
You can jimmy them open, it's a basic bic lighter base inside. It's a disposable product though, not planned obsolescence.
Ben 3 years ago
Have you tried lighting a deep candle with a zippy? Or a gas stove?
Load More Replies...
Vasana Phong 3 years ago
All these products are built reusable/refillable, but make it hard for the consumer to do so, so you’ll go buy another one, but it’ll backfire because we’ll buy another brand
Paul Aasajärv 3 years ago
3/4 of BIC lighters are not refillable! 38 years of experience as a smoker...
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Joerct Drew 3 years ago
It's disposable. If you want something better for the environment ger a Zippo
Liz Reece 3 years ago
I have personally 'fixed' several of these, as well as the fuel tanks for the therma-cell mosquito deterrent. I salvaged the valves out of some refillable lighters that the clicker stopped working in, drilled a small hole in the lighter or fuel tank I wanted to make refillable. I locked the valve in my drill, applied super glue all the way around the valve and using the drill to rotate it I pushed it into the bottom of the non refillable lighter. Let the glue dry about 15 minutes and fill with a small amount of butane, to test for leaks. Once I was SURE it wasn't leaking, I went ahead and filled them up. The lighter was more out of principal than anything, but the fuel tanks for the mosquito repellant was RIDICULOUSLY expensive! 3 single use tanks and 6 little pads was like 30 something dollars! My hubby would always forget to turn the thing off, so it would burn thru the entire tank. We end up with a ton of those pads and no fuel tanks..
Analee Frolic 3 years ago
The tiny minority of Americans who trade most of the stock do not care about the environment. The 1% are rightly convinced that they will survive the collapse of our environment quite nicely. They don't, after all, need eight billion servants. A collapsed civilization will only make it easier for the few to further own the surviving many. For billionaires and the political Party which serves them, the globe can't warm fast enough.
Seth 3 years ago (edited)
Stock in Fossil Fuel companies isn't controlled by a tiny minority; it's controlled by literally anyone who invests in a 401k through work or just about any other general investment portfolio. By default these investment companies chose reliable stocks with high return, which (surprise) always includes fossil fuels. The issue there is that most people don't know that their retirement savings are part of the problem.
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Darian Starfrog 3 years ago
Such a waste of ...EVERYTHING involved. Man.. remember in 50's? Even the 60's! When products where proudly marketed as being able to last your whole lifetime, even your grandkids? My mum had a cakem7xer from her mum, which I got after she died. Still going strong.
sussy_baka (they/them) 3 years ago
Here is a link for a electrically lighter you can re charge it as many time just a warning it comes with a annoying sound but it seem only younger people Can here it ARECTECH Lighter Electric Lighter Candle Lighter Rechargeable USB Lighter Plasma Arc Lighters for Candle Camping Kitchen Green https://a.co/d/3xCEZnY
Amy Stone-Chandler 3 years ago
Yeah these just have a standard Bic lighter inside them. Your better off buying wood BBQ skewers from a dollar store and a regular lighter. Much less plastic
Dorothy Stovall 3 years ago
You're even better off using a stick of spaghetti and just lighting it.
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Bill Kratz 2 years ago
Bic was one of the founding companies of disposable (one-use) plastic litter. Pens, lighters, etc...
Chris Machabee 3 years ago
Well, BIC says everyone has an opinion, ours is we need you to buy more.
Gladys Hayes Southerland 3 years ago
Long live the tinkerers! We will figure out how to get around those sneaky profit-makers
Lisa Edwardsen 3 years ago
I just bought a Bic lighter to use with the BBQ. Inside was a regular old BIC lighter.
Sharon 3 years ago (edited)
Lighters are like dust, planned obsolescence for your major appliances is even worse. Bought the cheapest washer with the biggest tub I could find. Just over 500. Canadian because while I was looking at the one I really wanted. Well over 800. Canadian, the sales lady explained how long it would work. About 5 yrs. Any longer and it's borrowed time I could feel blessed for. My fancy front load lasted 4 yrs, the bracket that hold the tub in place snapped one bar off. So....couldn't balance the load. I buy cheap now, am on yr 6 of my 500. washer.
loty moty 3 years ago
It probably costs more to make it refillable than these lighters are worth and for most people they will probably last a lifetime on a single fill.
Pursuing Peonies 3 years ago
"probably last a lifetime" but also "rechargeable electric lighters have become increasingly popular recently" lighters like the ones pictured don't last "a lifetime" and were never meant to be able to with average use. While yes it does probably cost more to make it refillable, it literally doesn't cost that much more. It's lazy manufacturing, especially nowadays. Lighters like that were meant to replace a (1) box of matches.
Load More Replies... #39
As**ole School System Charging Kids For Lunch And Then Blaming Parents
#40
My Printer Just Did A Firmware Update And No Longer Recognizes My Third-Party Ink
#41
Shrinkflation Used By Cadbury To Literally Cut Corners. The Bottom Chocolate Bar Is More Than 8 Percent Smaller
That other Panda 3 years ago
Mess with my sandwich, mess with my glue… BUT DO NOT MESS WITH MY CHOCOLATE
#42
5$ Pen Size vs. Ink
#43
Designed For Dissuading The Homeless. Literally Just Uncomfortable For Everyone Else
That other Panda 3 years ago
Why do people do this stuff? Like, if you dont want people to sleep on the streets, there are infinitely better things to do
#44
8% Alcohol Or
#45
Food Delivery Service That Tells You “Someone Is At The Door! Okay We Lied”
#46
I Wish My Professors Graded Like This
#47
Press Dismiss To Update This Printer
#48
Facebook, I'm Beyond Words
#49
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
#50
F**k You Vegas
#51
Makes Me Want To Cancel Even Harder
Little_redheaded_girl 3 years ago
They will try to offer the craziest deals if only they can get you to stay. It took me 20 minutes to finally cancel.
#52
I Love Ads On My £250 Console That I Continue To Pay £6 A Month To Play On
#53
New Instagram "Feature"
Labellesouris 3 years ago
I quit Instagram last week. The new shenanigans are more than I can take. I just don't need that much advertising for overpriced t-shirts
#54
I Would Like To Thank Suave For Increasing The Size Of Their Bottle By -17%
#55
They Knew What They Were Doing. It Was Perfectly Placed In The Box
#56
By Opening The Envelope For The License Agreement, You Agree To It
#57
My $2,500 TV Has "Sponsored Content" Built Into The Menu
Labellesouris 3 years ago
That show is really awesome(I love Lucy) but the advertisements put a damper on it. Honest question, why are they doing this? It's not like they are startups
#58
Wanted To Cancel My Subscription... Now I Have To Talk To Someone
BlackestDawn 3 years ago
Every country should have a law that states that ending an account/subscription must be as easy and convenient as it is to starting it.
#59
My $200 Textbook Won’t Let Me Copy Paste More Then 84 Words To Make A Study Guide
#60
Price Was $5.76. Can Only Pay With Quarters
#61
Sony's $330 Headphones Doesn’t Work With A Ps4
#62
Chipotle Goes All-Out Advertising That For The Next Week Delivery Is Free, And Then Casually Makes The Delivery Menu Priced Higher Than The Regular One
BadCat 3 years ago
Reminds me of Pizza Pizza. Every now and then their site's online delivery ordering doesn't work. It just stays buffering or crashes when you want to pay. When you call in to report the issue (not order) they immediately start an order for you, and don't want to listen about their website. When you say you want the same deal with the online coupon they tell you it's only available on the website. I've refused making an order when that happens.
#63
These Bluetooth Headphones Have To Be Permanently Plugged In To Provide Power
Nicole Weymann 3 years ago
That one's arguably the stupidest and most impudent so far: You specifically buy bluetooth pods so you're not leashed to your phone and they not only kill that single advantage but have the audacity to advertize with "never needs charging"! OF COURSE I DOESN'T IF THERE'S NO BATTERY AND IT'S CONSTANTLY PLUGGED IN!
#64
Apple’s Proprietary USB A Extension Cable
#65
The $20 Toilet Paper My Auntie Bought (On The Right) On Amazon Compared To A Normal Roll (On The Left)
#66
Powerade Is Using Shrinkflation By Replacing Their 32oz Drinks With 28oz And Stores Are Charging The Same Amount
#67
Youtube Lets You Purchase A Movie, But Still Age Blocks You
TheAquarius1978 3 years ago
Well lol, if you are age " blockable " you shouldnt be buying anything online, because lets face it, there is 99.9% chances you're using your parents card, and they should be the ones buying it.
#68
Packaging That Tricks You
#69
Can We All Agree Having To Pay For A Human Necessity Is A Major As**ole Design?
Sarah Richardson 3 years ago
No, we can’t. The toilets are always kept clean, an attendant is always on duty and no-one is ever just hanging around in there doing god knows what. If the bogs are open, an employee is there somewhere. It’s also a lot safer - I’d rather use a paid toilet at the railway station late in the evening than anywhere else.
#70
2k19 Is A Retail 60$ Game. They Put Non Skippable Ads In From Another Company
#71
Apple Using Different Wallpapers And Trying To Make Us Believe The Pro And The Pro Max Has No "Notch" Compared To The Base Model
#72
You Can't Play Doom I And II Offline On Switch Without Creating A Bethesda Account
#73
They Took Away The In-Store Signage To Force You To Download Their App
Rob Chapman 3 years ago
Um...no. I despise Walmart, but this isn't even remotely true. The circled area highlighting the missing price tags is an overstock area. You can clearly see the price tags on all the other shelves. That...and this photo was posted on Reddit 2 years ago.
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Nathaniel 3 years ago
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.
Crouching hippo hidden panda 3 years ago
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...
Elliot Fowler 3 years ago
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.
Pirates of Zen Pants 3 years ago
Bad sirs, you sit on a throne of lies. Thirty percent more lies, to be exact.
Alan Green 3 years ago
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?
Madeleine 3 years ago
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...
Uber Mensch 3 years ago
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?
Gary Adams 3 years ago
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.
An Unpopular Opinion. 3 years ago
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
Will Cable 3 years ago
Can we include Youtube thumbnails for videos that do not feature in any form whatsoever within the video.
Bouche Clay 3 years ago
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.
Model Fact 3 years ago
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.
Gavin Johnson 3 years ago
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... Nathaniel 3 years ago
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.
Crouching hippo hidden panda 3 years ago
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... Elliot Fowler 3 years ago
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.
Pirates of Zen Pants 3 years ago
Bad sirs, you sit on a throne of lies. Thirty percent more lies, to be exact.
Alan Green 3 years ago
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?
Madeleine 3 years ago
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... Uber Mensch 3 years ago
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?
Gary Adams 3 years ago
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.
An Unpopular Opinion. 3 years ago
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
Will Cable 3 years ago
Can we include Youtube thumbnails for videos that do not feature in any form whatsoever within the video.
Bouche Clay 3 years ago
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.
Model Fact 3 years ago
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.
Gavin Johnson 3 years ago
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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