30 Mistakes Made By Designers And Architects Who Didn’t Think Of The Person Who’d Be Using Their Designs
When it comes to designing things for city living, whether it’s the infrastructure or even little details—like park benches or public washrooms, you expect they will be made with people in mind. But it turns out that’s often far from the case.
Recently, Sahra Sulaiman, the communities editor for Streetsblog L.A., shared an illuminating thread about soap dispensers in LAX bathrooms. “The worker struggling to refill soaps in the LAX bathroom said she just wished architects and designers consulted with the workers that had to maintain the spaces about whether their form would actually be functional,” she wrote in a tweet amassing 126k likes.
Soon it became clear that Sahra is not the only one frustrated by how nonfunctionally public spaces are sometimes designed. More people joined the thread to share their own observations and experiences, so dear designers and architects, please take notes!
Image credits: sahrasulaiman
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Oh yeah the neverending ponytail and bun struggle is real... my SO always tells me I look like the Bendneck Lady when I drive lol
Urban design is concerned with the arrangement, appearance and function of our suburbs, towns and cities. It is both a process and an outcome of creating localities in which people live, engage with each other, and engage with the physical place around them in the modern world.
According to the United Nations (U.N.), 68% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, compared with 2% at the beginning of the 19th century, 30% in 1950 and 55% in 2018. The current urbanization is represented in hard-to-believe figures. The world’s largest city, Tokyo, which had a population of roughly 37 million in 2020, is expected to be overtaken in 2028 by New Delhi, the capital of India.
Also, in Japan, bathrooms have a sort of ledge where you can place your stuff while using the urinals. There are also hooks to hang your umbrella or bags.
Because that would be using common sense! Apparently this too is a waning commodity!
But you don’t have to look at metropolises to realize how much and how fast our environment is changing. Pick just about any city, the one that you live in right now, and it will seem both familiar and new at the same time. So today designers and urban planners face incredible challenges—to make sure the public spaces, infrastructure, and resources cater to the people who live there.
There are many ways to approach urban development that promote healthy living and longevity through a variety of design practices. Areas called “Blue Zones” are one of them. Dan Buettner, the author of the concept who wrote about for National Geographic, found that these communities had lower incidents of cancer and heart disease, fewer cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a higher percentage of the population in their 90s and 100s, and were generally happier.
In general things are designed with the worst way for handicap people. Urban architects and engineers should live a month in a wheelchair or with a stroller before they do things. For example the metro at my parents city is """adapted""" for us, they put a beautiful sticker and cheered of how amazing they are. The metros are taller than the platforms and it leaves a small step. Small enough that a walking person wont notice but bit enough that my disabilities scotter cannot get there...
BP taught me that those gaps in the stalls i an American thing. Sooo happy we dont have those
According to Joe Pobiner, Planning and Urban Design expert and advisor, urban design that follows the concept of Blue Zones includes: walkable environments to reduce the need for cars; increased vertical density and mixed-use diversity to encourage walking; a mix of housing options to encourage a multi-generational population; a mix of development types beyond residential and office spaces; local gathering places, parks, and plazas; locally owned farm-to-table restaurants; community gardens and rooftop gardens, and so on.
Yeah, we got a new delivery ramp years back, so we do not need to use the public entrance anymore. Turns out we use the public entrance since them anyways, because the ramp is highly unsafe and horrible to work with. The architect is still mad at us, he think, it was a great idea.
Pobiner argues that today, walkability and access to green spaces are top selling points. “Buyers want neighborhoods that offer new architecture, land uses, and technology—areas that create 'intelligent' density conducive to walking and biking, and that are less costly and more sustainable,” he explains.
You can't hang it on the hook at the top of the door if it has one - it can be reached by a determined thief. And who wants to put it on the floor
I had to get a glob of soap on my hands and let a little girl swipe it off because the soap dispensers were impossible for her to reach. This was at a ski resort, with ski schools and everything. Main lodge at the bottom of the mountain
Yeah, place where I used to work had floor to ceiling glass walls on conference rooms. Then they had to add curtains because you know, sometimes you might be sharing something you can't announce to the whole company. Also it is a distraction when you are in a meeting in a glass cube and you see people outside the cube passing by.
And how about designing parking lots in northern climates that snow plows can actually maneuver around
I have repeatedly seen paper towel dispensers that you grab the towel to pull some out, but the damn thing is set so tight all you get is a very small handful of paper. Bloody useless.
At a school I taught in they put the drains in the center but sloped the floors UPWARDS towards the drains. So nothing would run in the drain unless the entire room was flooded with 1.5 inches of liquid. Our poor janitor was always fighting with the bathrooms and especially the ones for the little kids with bad aim. He'd have to hose the floor down and then sweep the pissy water towards the drains for a half hour to attempt to clean things.
The art department at my college was connected to the architecture building, and they were the ugliest buildings on campus. The bathrooms were small and dark, the lighting was horrible throughout, the elevator would frequently stop a few inches above the floor and was slow as hell, which meant that more often than not, you were hauling projects and art supplies up a narrow flight of stairs. 😑
Also dishwashers! It's bad enough having to bend down to load one (really, can't the top be higher than the bench without causing armageddon?) but when you have to twist as well to reach the place where dirty dishes are stored before going in then that's just beyond irritating. Also, if I can't walk past it when the door is open I am not happy.
Note: this post originally had 38 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I'll add to this - architects who design hospitals. It's all lovely having double/triple-height ceilings to create the feel of light and space, but try cleaning up there! Skylight windows also get full of cobwebs our cleaning teams struggle to reach without injuring themselves. Architectural features with little dust-collecting ledges are also a pain. We wish they would think about how their designs might make cleaning difficult and therefore not help us control infection so well.
100% agree with that, have seen some really great hospital designs (for example one where the linoleum in corridors curved up and ended up flush with the wall surface, so there were no skirting ledges to gather dust or corners that couldn't be mopped). Then when they built a new local hospital near me, standard hallways and rooms, then a central atrium which everything looked over with glass lifts and windowsills at every window. Result was it was impossible to keep clean, soon every room has a view of a sill with dust and detritus on it, and the top of the lifts are filthy and can be seen from inside, as well as all the windows above.
Town I grew up spent a fortune on a permanently revolving door. The cafe and shop inside were lovely. Shame about the rest of the building and the fact nurses couldn't park - but who needs nurses when you have such a nice door?
It's wery weird, in many countries hospitals need to meet specific and strict building and health &safety regulations, so there would be no place for some dumb pseudo-designer ideas.
Those same architects put in stone pavers…because who cares if a stretcher or wheelchair can’t roll smoothly over it? And the ambulance bays? Always too small because why would more than three ambulances need to fit?
Yeah. The hospital by me has way too many tall windows. Freezing in there in the winter and too hot in the summer. Plus the poor workers in the lobby need sunglasses just to do their work...the building doesn't even look that cool from the outside tbh.
Traditional hospitals were designed with high ceilings to improve ventilation. Recently it's been realised that this does have some advantages.
our new hospital has carpeted hallways...
My school has a building where it reaches to the sky since it is a two story. The thing is no one can get up there without a very tall ladder. The ceiling has two dark patches that are brown and gross. I don't know if it just comes with age but I don't know what it is. The entire building is an eyesore though so not much can be done.
Like I said in another comment. I hate how badly designed things are if you are handicapped. Urban architects and engineers should live a month in a wheelchair or with a stroller before they do things. For example the metro at my parents city is """adapted""" for us, they put a beautiful disabled sticker and cheered of how amazing they are. The metros are taller than the platforms and it leaves a small step. Small enough that a walking person wont notice but bit enough that my disabilities scotter cannot get there... The apartment where my grandma lives got their entrance renovated a few years ago to add a ramp to the elevator. They spent a fortune making it fancy. But to get to the ramp you need to go up two steps. My gran goes on a wheelchair and cannot get out of her appartment without help...
I absolutely agree. Chair user here. Things might be "ADA compliant" but the designers who decided on minimum standards weren't doing us any favors. I've got more scrapes on my knuckles from rooms what were supposedly wheelchair friendly but were too narrow to move in. Take our town hall - the handicap ramp is located down the block and it's closed off by a chained and locked gate which nobody knows where the key is. However, handicap parking is in front, so you have to roll down the block to come back up (if they have the key). I tried to go to a town meeting to complain and couldn't even get in because of the stairs. Their response - "we put the parking close, that's good enough." WTF?!
Right? Or elevator buttons that are not accessible if you are in a chair or scooter. I missed so many elevators because i cant press and drive in time
my favorite thing is that the three different social security field offices i've visited have made zero attempts to comply with the ADA. you know, social security, where the majority of people visiting are elderly, disabled, and/or have toddlers or babies to wrangle. the main one i deal with has two sets of doors that open outward and aren't automated, so people with their hands full or in a wheelchair end up struggling until someone else is nice enough to get the door for them.
I worked for a guy in s chair and that's when I decided it should be a law to design one you must be bound to one. I think it's clear that to be a pre-requisite to anyone designing anything
"Minimums have a way of becoming maximums."
Because these people don't actually want to help handicapped people or improve their life. They just want to look like they are doing stuff and then pat themselves on the back and feel good about what "great people" they are.
I imagine that some do it just out of ignorance. But yes, it feels as if a big part of the population wants us to remain invisible. Keep us locked at home so we dont inconvenience others. Like the person who decided that scotters are not allowed in the belgian buses... Thanks for making it impossible for me to use public transport...
I had to rent a wheelchair for a month and quickly learned how difficult it is to use most "handicapped" facilities. Most people never realize it - I certainly didn't prior to that.
Yeah it was the same for me. I never realised until i became ill how ableist things are. It makes me ashamed that i never saw it
There's a parking garage in my town that requires you to go up two steps in order to get to the elevator. I use a scooter and was with my parents, so I could get off and they were able to lift it for me, but it makes zero sense and if my circumstances were a little different it would be a much greater impediment. After discovering this, my mother wrote to the relevant parties to point this out. The woman who answered said she'd been pointing this out for ages, but she was the only woman on the team and they wouldn't listen to her. I've also found that in places with a small entry between inner and outer doors, that space is sometimes too small to fit my scooter in properly, and the automatic timing on the doors results in them running into my scooter--especially when I'm delayed in hitting the button because I have to figure out how to reach it with my cane. There one at my college that I had to go through at least every other day. Usually followed by getting hit with an elevator door.
The grocery store closest to home has a marked handicap crosswalk leading from the handicapped parking to the store entrance. It runs between the front of the parked cars & a small grass island. The curb stops for the parked cars are smack dab in the middle of the crosswalk, making it impossible for a wheelchair or scooter to get through, and difficult for crutches. Heck, I'm able-bodied (for now; I realize that can change at any time) and have nearly tripped over the darn things myself. And just to put a cherry on that craziness sundae - NONE of the non-handicapped parking spaces have curb stops.
Once a public restroom I was using regularly was vandalized in the most useful way possible: Someone brought a large nail and drove it into the door on the inside. He was heavily fined for it and banned from the presmises, but of course they let the nail in place, as it was the perfect height to hang coats, as none of the original planners had thought of adding a clothing hook. Of course, this was a european style toilet, with an actual door and no gap...
I'll add to this - architects who design hospitals. It's all lovely having double/triple-height ceilings to create the feel of light and space, but try cleaning up there! Skylight windows also get full of cobwebs our cleaning teams struggle to reach without injuring themselves. Architectural features with little dust-collecting ledges are also a pain. We wish they would think about how their designs might make cleaning difficult and therefore not help us control infection so well.
100% agree with that, have seen some really great hospital designs (for example one where the linoleum in corridors curved up and ended up flush with the wall surface, so there were no skirting ledges to gather dust or corners that couldn't be mopped). Then when they built a new local hospital near me, standard hallways and rooms, then a central atrium which everything looked over with glass lifts and windowsills at every window. Result was it was impossible to keep clean, soon every room has a view of a sill with dust and detritus on it, and the top of the lifts are filthy and can be seen from inside, as well as all the windows above.
Town I grew up spent a fortune on a permanently revolving door. The cafe and shop inside were lovely. Shame about the rest of the building and the fact nurses couldn't park - but who needs nurses when you have such a nice door?
It's wery weird, in many countries hospitals need to meet specific and strict building and health &safety regulations, so there would be no place for some dumb pseudo-designer ideas.
Those same architects put in stone pavers…because who cares if a stretcher or wheelchair can’t roll smoothly over it? And the ambulance bays? Always too small because why would more than three ambulances need to fit?
Yeah. The hospital by me has way too many tall windows. Freezing in there in the winter and too hot in the summer. Plus the poor workers in the lobby need sunglasses just to do their work...the building doesn't even look that cool from the outside tbh.
Traditional hospitals were designed with high ceilings to improve ventilation. Recently it's been realised that this does have some advantages.
our new hospital has carpeted hallways...
My school has a building where it reaches to the sky since it is a two story. The thing is no one can get up there without a very tall ladder. The ceiling has two dark patches that are brown and gross. I don't know if it just comes with age but I don't know what it is. The entire building is an eyesore though so not much can be done.
Like I said in another comment. I hate how badly designed things are if you are handicapped. Urban architects and engineers should live a month in a wheelchair or with a stroller before they do things. For example the metro at my parents city is """adapted""" for us, they put a beautiful disabled sticker and cheered of how amazing they are. The metros are taller than the platforms and it leaves a small step. Small enough that a walking person wont notice but bit enough that my disabilities scotter cannot get there... The apartment where my grandma lives got their entrance renovated a few years ago to add a ramp to the elevator. They spent a fortune making it fancy. But to get to the ramp you need to go up two steps. My gran goes on a wheelchair and cannot get out of her appartment without help...
I absolutely agree. Chair user here. Things might be "ADA compliant" but the designers who decided on minimum standards weren't doing us any favors. I've got more scrapes on my knuckles from rooms what were supposedly wheelchair friendly but were too narrow to move in. Take our town hall - the handicap ramp is located down the block and it's closed off by a chained and locked gate which nobody knows where the key is. However, handicap parking is in front, so you have to roll down the block to come back up (if they have the key). I tried to go to a town meeting to complain and couldn't even get in because of the stairs. Their response - "we put the parking close, that's good enough." WTF?!
Right? Or elevator buttons that are not accessible if you are in a chair or scooter. I missed so many elevators because i cant press and drive in time
my favorite thing is that the three different social security field offices i've visited have made zero attempts to comply with the ADA. you know, social security, where the majority of people visiting are elderly, disabled, and/or have toddlers or babies to wrangle. the main one i deal with has two sets of doors that open outward and aren't automated, so people with their hands full or in a wheelchair end up struggling until someone else is nice enough to get the door for them.
I worked for a guy in s chair and that's when I decided it should be a law to design one you must be bound to one. I think it's clear that to be a pre-requisite to anyone designing anything
"Minimums have a way of becoming maximums."
Because these people don't actually want to help handicapped people or improve their life. They just want to look like they are doing stuff and then pat themselves on the back and feel good about what "great people" they are.
I imagine that some do it just out of ignorance. But yes, it feels as if a big part of the population wants us to remain invisible. Keep us locked at home so we dont inconvenience others. Like the person who decided that scotters are not allowed in the belgian buses... Thanks for making it impossible for me to use public transport...
I had to rent a wheelchair for a month and quickly learned how difficult it is to use most "handicapped" facilities. Most people never realize it - I certainly didn't prior to that.
Yeah it was the same for me. I never realised until i became ill how ableist things are. It makes me ashamed that i never saw it
There's a parking garage in my town that requires you to go up two steps in order to get to the elevator. I use a scooter and was with my parents, so I could get off and they were able to lift it for me, but it makes zero sense and if my circumstances were a little different it would be a much greater impediment. After discovering this, my mother wrote to the relevant parties to point this out. The woman who answered said she'd been pointing this out for ages, but she was the only woman on the team and they wouldn't listen to her. I've also found that in places with a small entry between inner and outer doors, that space is sometimes too small to fit my scooter in properly, and the automatic timing on the doors results in them running into my scooter--especially when I'm delayed in hitting the button because I have to figure out how to reach it with my cane. There one at my college that I had to go through at least every other day. Usually followed by getting hit with an elevator door.
The grocery store closest to home has a marked handicap crosswalk leading from the handicapped parking to the store entrance. It runs between the front of the parked cars & a small grass island. The curb stops for the parked cars are smack dab in the middle of the crosswalk, making it impossible for a wheelchair or scooter to get through, and difficult for crutches. Heck, I'm able-bodied (for now; I realize that can change at any time) and have nearly tripped over the darn things myself. And just to put a cherry on that craziness sundae - NONE of the non-handicapped parking spaces have curb stops.
Once a public restroom I was using regularly was vandalized in the most useful way possible: Someone brought a large nail and drove it into the door on the inside. He was heavily fined for it and banned from the presmises, but of course they let the nail in place, as it was the perfect height to hang coats, as none of the original planners had thought of adding a clothing hook. Of course, this was a european style toilet, with an actual door and no gap...