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50 Genius Product Design Ideas That Genuinely Surprised People
What you see isn’t always what you get... but in a totally awesome way. In a world chock-full of truly awful design decisions, it’s refreshing to see things made by people who are thoughtful, imaginative, and who put the user first. And sometimes, they completely stun with the hidden, unexpected features they add to their products. So much so that people can’t help but share a photo of it online.
Our design-loving team here at Bored Panda has collected some of the best examples of products that have impressive surprises, tiny little features, and hidden humor that are as close to magic as us muggles can get. We hope that you’ll enjoy these and that they’ll inspire you to look at the creative process with even more innovation than usual.
Once you’ve upvoted your favorite pics, be sure to let us and all the other Pandas know which of these product ideas you loved the most. We totally don’t want to sway you one way or the other, but some of our favors include the cappuccino cup with the delightful miniature ice-cream cone holder on the saucer, as well as the plantable seed tag, among many others. Read to have your imaginations expanded and to see generosity done right. Enjoy!
Bored Panda wanted to understand product design better, so we reached out to Matt Johnson, Ph.D. A professor of consumer psychology at Hult International Business School and Harvard University, as well as the author of 'Branding that Means Business,' and the host of the Neuroscience of Branding blog, Johnson shared his thoughts about user-friendly designs, the potential (and risk!) of unexpected features, as well as what wins out in the end—the power of the brand or the functionality of the product itself. Read on to find out what he told us.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My Husband Ordered A Used Laptop And It Arrived Completely Packed In Little Paper Cranes
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#2
This Painting I Bought At The Zoo Came With A Picture Of The Meerkat Family Who Painted It
#3
The Box That My Grill Came In Can Be Inverted To Make A Playhouse For A Toddler
#4
My Dogs Tore Apart A Cactus Toy, To Reveal Another, Sad Cactus Toy
#5
My Cappuccino Came With A Tiny Ice Cream
#6
The Book My SO Purchased Came With A Bookmark That Listed The Character’s Names And Their Roles
Jul Chv 4 years ago (edited)
Tbh. I read that book. The character are quite important, there are about 10 of them and the little symbol is an indication of which one is the narrator as they share the narrative point. And they can be a bit tricky to tell apart.The same list is on the 1st page so that you don´t get lost.
#7
My Hair Dye Came With Little Gloves To Cover My Glasses
#8
My Toilet Paper Came With A To-Go Roll In The Middle
#9
First CD I Bought In 15 Years. Came With A Cardboard Gramophone. It Works
#10
My Shirt Has A Microfiber Sewn On The Inside To Clean Glasses
#11
My Bra Came With An Info Tag On Checking Yourself For Breast Cancer
#12
This Message Stamped On The Squeaker Inside The Stuffed Animal My Dog Just Destroyed
#13
My Spatula Has A Little Stand So It Doesn’t Touch The Counter
#14
Diploma Came With A Wallet-Sized Version
#15
This Hot Water Heater Has A Pie Warmer
Sergy Yeltsen 4 years ago
This thing looks older than me. And I'm old enough to remember watching Sesame Street in B&W.
#16
Amazon Purchase Came With A Personal Note And Some Russian Coins
#17
The Inside Of The Pizza Box Was A Tuxedo
#18
My Backpack's Front Buckle Has A Built In Whistle
Tristan Gragg 4 years ago
I've seen these on almost every hiking backpack at outdoor stores. In fact, I have a backpack with one of these on it on the chest strap! Handy little thing and decently loud in case you get lost.
#19
Microwave Came With Optional Braille Cover
#20
The Wine I Ordered Online Came With A Tiny Set Of Dice Packaged Inside A Hollow Cork
#21
The Logo On My Umbrella Only Shows Up When Wet
#22
My New Dress Came With A Napkin, Apparently
#23
I Bought A Pack Of Cigarettes And They Came With A Postage-Paid Recycling Pouch
Sergy Yeltsen 4 years ago
Okay, we all know smoking is horrible, etc etc, but this is a good idea. There are few things worse than seeing cigarette butts all over the place, especially outside of areas where smokers hang out. I wouldn't care so much about their habit if they were tidy about it, instead of too lazy to walk to a bin or rubbish receptacle within a couple of metres.
#24
This Nutmeg I Bought In France Comes With Its Own Tiny Grater
#25
My Bottle Of Canadian Whisky Came With Free Public Transportation
#26
These Winter Boots Have A Flip-Down Ice Cleat In The Heel To Help With Walking On Icy Surfaces
#27
Got A New Travel Wallet And I Found This In The Back Of The Notebook That Came With It
#28
This Yogurt Lid Can Be Folded Into A Little Spoon
#29
My Spoon Carving Kit Came With Band-Aids
#30
My Raincoat Reveals A Floral Pattern When Wet
#31
Multi-Tool Belt
#32
My New Frying Pan Came With A Plantable Seed Tag
Down With Agent Hedgehog! 4 years ago
Yeah it works, and I’ve planted a bunch of these before with mint. Now I can’t get rid of all the mint festooning my yard (to the joy of my tortoise, who loves sitting in it)
#33
My Bracelet Came With A Paper Clip To Help Fasten The Clasp
#34
This Baby Pickle Jar Came With A Tiny Elevator For Them
#35
My New Set Of Sheets Came With A Handy Little Pocket
#36
My New Jeep Came With A Sasquatch On The Window
#37
I Bought A Tie Today And It Came With A Matching Face Mask
#38
My New Wok Has Circles For Measuring Oil
#39
This Packet Of Sponges Came With A Free Hedgehog
#40
My Coaster Came With A Built In Activity
#41
These Chairs In A Ski Resort Restaurant Have Room For Your Gloves, Helmet, Hat Etc
#42
My Thai Food Came With A Chork
#43
My Newspaper Came With 2 Printed Pattern Pages To Wrap Presents
GoldfishCrackers 4 years ago
And with patterns/colors that look way more classic and nostalgic than much of the pricy paper people make and buy these days.
#44
Nail Polish Bottle Has A Swatch Of The Color Attached To The Bottle So You Can See How The Color Looks On You
#45
My New Fridge Came With An Explication Of Sounds
#46
My Gardening Tool Kit Came With A Claw Glove
#47
My Gas Bill Came With A Scratch 'N Sniff
Alice Teasdale 4 years ago
Well that's easy given it's odourless. The odourant is added for safety. Worth letting people know what that smells like.
#48
My Dog Treats Came With A Clip So You Can Attach One To Your Phone And Take A Selfie With Your Dog
#49
This Pan Has A Thermochromic Indicator To Show If It Is Hot
#50
These Japanese Umbrellas Only Have Patterns When Wet
#51
My Copy Of Deadpool Came With A Testicular Cancer Test On The Back Of The Paper With The iTunes Code
#52
My Christmas Hat Is Made Of 100% Christmas
#53
Our New Car Came With Car-Shaped Chocolates
Colin Allcars 4 years ago
What type of car is this and where did you get it? For… scientific reasons
#54
The New Old Spice Sea Spray Scent Has A Little Ship On It
#55
My Bob Ross Bobble Head Came With Its Own Flip Book Of Happy Little Paintings
#56
The Back Of This Cereal Box Had Cutout "Actual Reality Goggles"
#57
My Hot Chocolate Came With A Teeny Tiny Whisk
Angela Turrall 4 years ago
Ooooh, my niece got me a hot chocolate set a few years ago with a mini whisk in it, I still use the whisk almost every day!
#58
My Dog Tore Open His Yoda Plush Toy And The Squeaker Inside Is A Heart
#59
This Pizza Box Comes With A Cutout Basketball Game
#60
This Hidden Sloth On My Brew Dr Kombucha
#61
Beer Caps That You Can Play Rock Paper Scissors With
#62
Every Vauxhall Car Built Since 2004 Have A Hidden Shark Somewhere In The Car. Found Mine In The Glove Box
#63
I Broke A Yard Decoration That Had 2 Frogs And Found Inside 1 Pig Playing Guitar
#64
This Japanese Gum I Have Came With Little Pieces Of Paper Inside For You To Spit Your Gum Into When You’re Finished With It
#65
Bubble Wrap That Came With The Dog Treats I Ordered Is Shaped Like Bones
Sergy Yeltsen 4 years ago
Nooooooo... this is unpoppable bubble wrap. Those who designed it need to be consigned to the lowest layers of hell.
#66
I Bought A $14k Staircase Today And It Came With A Little Example Model
#67
My Package Came With A Tape Opener Attached To The Box
Broad Panda 4 years ago
I would keep this and use it repeatedly! Much safer than scissors or a Stanley knife.
#68
Our Ice Cream Had No Expiration Date Because They Congratulated A Long Tenured Employee
Isidien Gudmundsdottir 4 years ago
Ice cream with an expiration date? That's criminal! You buy it, you eat it within max 1 week! /just kidding...
#69
The Terms And Conditions That Came With My Bluetooth Speaker
#70
Drunk Driving Warning On Back Of Beer Can
#71
My Baby’s Swim Diaper Comes With Worst Results Washing Instructions
#72
My Cup Noodles Lid Is A Cat That Greets You When You Open It Halfway
#73
My Milk Has Good Advice Printed On The Side
Dana Johnson 4 years ago
Well I love this personally. I work in a call center and talk to strangers everyday who yell and scream and curse me out daily because "its my job". So I support this Milk
#74
My Online Order Came With Socks For A Chair’s Legs
#75
I Give You The Greatest Warning Label Ever
#76
This Training Epipen That Came With My Girlfriend's Epipens
Scooter 4 years ago (edited)
I had one of those and used to play with it all the time. One day sitting at my desk I pick it up thinking I was going to smack it into my leg but at the last second I banged it down on the desk top. It didn't sound the same and when I looked at it, it was a real Epi Pen with the needle sticking out of the end. 😯
#77
This Fake Driver's License For A Literal Bird Came With My Wallet
#78
Our Ramen Kit Came With A LEGO Man Butter
#79
My Beef Jerky Came With A Toothpick/Floss Inside The Package
That other Panda 4 years ago
In South Africa, (where I live) whenever you buy BILTONG (Google it) it comes with a little wooden toothpick 🤣
#80
My Dad Found A Face As The Pocket Of His Pepperoni Pizza Pants
#81
The Squeaker From Inside Her Dog Toy Has Declared Her The Winner
#82
I Found A Little Pocket Sewn Inside My New Jeans
#83
This Lemon Came With A Mesh Wrap So The Seeds Don’t Fall Into Your Food When You Squeeze It
#84
Got This In My Case Of Beer. It's A Can Of Dirt, Which Came With Seeds So You Can Plant A Tree
#85
My New Shoes Have A Map To Saville Row On The Sole
Camilla Koutsos 4 years ago
I used to work in a pub on Swallow Street, up and to the right of the row. Many of our regulars were tailors from there :)
#86
My Bottle Of Honey Has An Encouraging Message For Me When I Left It Flipped Over To Get The Last Of It
#87
My Coffee Came With Instructions For Tying A Neck Tie
#88
Gluten Free Has Been Imprinted Into The Oreo Cookie Part. Didn't See Until It Hit Milk
#89
Coffee Cup Jacket With A Built-In Cookie Pocket
#90
This Waffle Pattern Appeared On My VANS Shirt After I Spilt Water On It
#91
My Asian "Pringles" Has A Tab To Lift The Chips Up So You Don't Have To Put Your Hand Inside The Tube
#92
This Shirt Has A Piece Of Lens Cloth Sewn On The Inside For Your Glasses
Joseph rick 4 years ago
The 'novelty aspect' of this has been done to death - better curating needed BP thx also that pattern by wetting thing grates as well. BP is all about the 'novelty fix' we love.
#93
My Mont Blanc Wallet Came With $2 Inside
#95
My Moss Ball Came With Its Own Tiny Cowboy Hat
#96
My New Shirt Came With An Optional Pocket For Me To Sew On
#97
My New Carving Knife Came With Bandages
#98
My Receipt Came With A Nutritional Breakdown
Emperor Kitten 4 years ago
Can't express how much I don't want this. Fast food is a safe place, not a place of nutrition labels.
#99
This Can Has A Secret Message Under The Label
#100
Ordered A New Knife They Give You Two Band-Aids With It
#101
My Beer Has Tips On What To Listen To While Drinking It. Cheers
#102
My Bob Ross LEGO Came With Deadpool's Mask
Beth Ellis 4 years ago
Please stop buying Bob Ross branded kitch items, the company that makes these ripped off the Bob Ross name.
#103
Gluten Free Pizza Came Uncut With A Packaged Slicer
Logan Duffy 4 years ago
just stop deb. you have a point. we get it.YOU DO NOT NEED TO REPEAT IT MULTIPLE TIMES.
#104
My Knife Came With A Bandage
#105
This Can Of Chips Has A Plastic Slider So You Can Easily Reach The Ones At The Bottom
Joseph rick 4 years ago
Asian product - its the fingers thing again - however I'm anti-plastic and beyond - its the whole Petro-chemical multi-national global capture we are enslaved too - the criminal profits they have been extracting - in the UK alone - 3 Billion pounds a day after all the extraction and production costs - enough hideous profit to buy every singlel politician on the planet earth - man they bleed and bleach us first then the product kilsl us
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What do you think ?
Beans 4 years ago
Or the 'we stole this dumb probably fake narrative from Reddit 9 years ago, enjoy!'
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KitKat 4 years ago
Sadly so many of these are plastics or unnecessary wrapping - such a waste of resources & a burden to the environment 😕 Cleaner, greener better options could be used...
Shine Chisholm 4 years ago
Unnecessary packaging on unnecessary consumer goods. A thing can be both frivolous and clever.
Load More Replies... Beans 4 years ago
Or the 'we stole this dumb probably fake narrative from Reddit 9 years ago, enjoy!'
Load More Replies... KitKat 4 years ago
Sadly so many of these are plastics or unnecessary wrapping - such a waste of resources & a burden to the environment 😕 Cleaner, greener better options could be used...
Shine Chisholm 4 years ago
Unnecessary packaging on unnecessary consumer goods. A thing can be both frivolous and clever.
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