#1 A Locking Drawer That Can Be Bypassed By Removing The Upper Drawers
If you think about it, pretty much everything around us was designed by someone who had to make all sorts of decisions about how it should look and work.
The phone or computer you’re reading this on, for example. Someone decided how big the screen should be, where to put the buttons, and even what shape the letters you’re looking at right now should have.
The same goes for the bed you slept in last night or the chair you’re sitting on. There’s a surprising amount of thought behind things we barely even notice in our everyday lives.
#5 These New Peugeots Are Great, They Blind You With Glare On The Metallic Finish
Of course, some things are designed much better than others. We can usually tell when something works well, just as we can spot a bad design almost immediately.
In fact, a study by Gitte Lindgaard and her colleagues at Carleton University found that people can judge whether a website looks appealing in just 50 milliseconds, which is faster than the blink of an eye.
But explaining exactly what makes one design better than another can be surprisingly tricky. So, what do professional designers have to say about it?
#7 A Token Of Appreciation From My Boss. Only Points Down When Read Correctly
German industrial designer Dieter Rams, who spent decades designing products for Braun, came up with 10 principles of good design back in the 1970s. According to him, good design should make a product useful, easy to understand, and pleasant to look at.
He also believed that products should last a long time and avoid unnecessary details. His ideas have influenced generations of designers and are still widely discussed today.
#10 How On Earth Am I Supposed To Read The Label On This Bottle. (Yes! There Is Actually A Label In The Picture!)
#11 Parking Bays, Nightmare To See As A Colorblind Person And Near Impossible To Park Within The Lines At Night. Should Have Been Solid White Lines
There’s a good reason why simplicity matters so much. Think about how annoying it is when you spend five minutes trying to figure out which button starts your washing machine or have to click through half a dozen menus just to find something on a website.
Usability expert Jakob Nielsen has developed a set of guidelines for making digital products easier to use. One of his main points is that people shouldn’t have to remember complicated instructions when the information they need could simply be shown to them.
#13 Stairs At My Psychologist, I Tripped And Almost Fell Face First When I Opened The Door The First Time
#14 The Tiles At The Hotel I’m Staying At. The Only Way I Know It’s Not Mold Is Because The Pattern Repeats In Other Parts Of The Bathroom
Another important thing designers need to consider is not just how something will work, but also who will be using it. This kind of approach is called human-centered design, and it involves putting yourself in the shoes of the people you’re designing for.
Sometimes, that means literally watching how people actually use a product, because what they do can be very different from what designers expect. After all, something that seems perfectly logical to its creator might leave everyone else scratching their heads.
#17 This Panda Plushie With, Apparently, Two Faces, I Found At A Claw Machine I Took My Baby Cousin To See In An Ice Cream Shop
A great example of this is the story behind OXO’s Good Grips kitchen utensils. According to the Smithsonian, the idea came to Sam Farber after he noticed his wife, who had arthritis, struggling to use kitchen tools with metal handles.
He decided to create something more comfortable, and in 1990, the company introduced a line of utensils with soft, easy-to-hold rubber handles. The idea was simple, but it made everyday tasks easier for people with different needs.
