Poorly designed things that make using them difficult?

[Whatisthisfuckery]

Spice jars, who in hell has designed the dimensions of spice jars? What measurement of spices does one usually find in a recipe? Teaspoons. What can you not quite fit in a spice jar? A fucking teaspoon. Whose bloody bright idea was it to design a jar that makes it hard to dispense the most common measurement of the ingredient contained within?

Ahh, that’s better, I needed that rant.

Go on, rant away. What poorly designed thing makes you angry inside?

@Saoirse7 I can’t think of the brand but the little white guy with a black bowler hat - they sell the flour in a tub like the baby milk, they sell it in asda. I have a few so buy the cheaper flour and decant it in

Shampoo/conditioner bottles - I add a splash of v hot water to the bottle, shake it like mad and it makes it runny enough to get the last bits out, same with shower gel/bath foam

@SachaStark

Toilets in public places: the space allocated for designing the women’s loos should be larger than the space allocated for men’s loos, not equal.

The queue for the women’s is always longer, due to feminine issues, or caregivers accompanying small children to the toilet (more likely to be mothers than fathers).

Therefore, in building designs there should be a greater amount of floor space for women’s toilets than men’s.

Yes and the cubicle doors should open outwards so that you don't have to squeeze yourself into the space down the side of the loo to open the door. Even worse if accompanied by small children!

You wee into something else like a jug (don't tell anyone in the household that though!) or if you prefer an old ice cream tub or something you can put in the recycling after, then POUR a little in the tube.

At home yes, but in a dr's surgery or hospital there isn't usually a handy jug around!

We bought an automated bin yet it’s made with a little indent around the whole lid where crumbs literally cannot escape from.

@SnugglySnerd when I was big pregnant (from 7 months) I had to keep using the disabled loo’s as I couldn’t fit in some cubicles!

@HeyDemonsItsYaGirl

You wee into something else like a jug (don't tell anyone in the household that though!) or if you prefer an old ice cream tub or something you can put in the recycling after, then POUR a little in the tube.

At home yes, but in a dr's surgery or hospital there isn't usually a handy jug around!

My local maternity dept gave out little cardboard bowls with a spout to wee into and decant into the sample bottles. Which was excellent except there was no bin to put them in (they were too big for normal sanitary bins) so everyone left them on the side of the washbasin.

@thenightsky

The fact that every washing basket I've ever owned does not fit under the washing machine door. It is too high by just a few centimetres

I was cursing the bloody basket only 10 mins before reading this thread.

In similar style, washer and dryer doors that are opposites. My machines site side by side. Common sense has one opening to the left and one to the right so it’s easier to load between the two. It took me an age to find a dryer that opened opposite to my washer. DH thinks this is a ridiculous requirement and couldn’t understand its importance Obviously he didn’t do the washing....

“Resealable” packets of cheese. The seal by the ziplock is positioned so that when you first cut the packet open, you have to cut really close to the ziplock and then there isn’t enough packet remaining on each side to be able to grip and pull them apart if you resell it. If you cut further from the ziplock hoping to have enough to grip, the packet is still sealed so you can’t get it open. I just ignore the ziplock now and cut it off.

@CannotOperateOnThisFailure

My stupid car key fob. Because it was in an RFID thing for a while over lockdown it decided it would no longer actually open the car. Now, it's a keyless entry/use car so not having a working key is a bit crap but you can take the fob apart and create a old style key to open the doors. But - opening the doors triggers the car alarm (which you can't turn off because the key fob doesn't actually work) However the dashboard now says "put key in special place to deactivate the alarm" which would be fine if 'special place' was mentioned in the index of the handbook (it's not) or indeed under alarm, key, dashboard, error code or anything vaguely related - its not. It's not mentioned in the handbook at all. To find out where the 'special place' is you need to cover your ears (remember the alarm is still going) and Google the fucking thing and find out that in on some car owners forum in 2008 Bob, 34 from Kent also had this problem and found out where the Special Place was. Bob didn't know how to stop it from happening again though. I am still making my key and then throwing it into the Special Place like I'm defusing a bomb. And, given the last time my other car needed a new key programmed it cost £200 it shall ever be thus.

Jag XF?

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter body moisturizer in their original bottle. Super think moisturizer, rock hard, completely unsqueezable bottle. Has to be turned upside down and piddled with a pointy thing from the very first open. I once took the bread knife to the bottle to hack it in half- then had a month of two parts of a moisturizer bottle in a Jiffy bag on my bathroom shelf. Great look.

My house. I have no garage, which is quite normal. But also no loft. All the ceilings go right up to the rafters.

The problem with this, is two fold.

1. They are IMPOSSIBLE to dust without the use of a 13ft fishing rod with a sock on the end, therefore the tops 6 feet of all the upstairs rooms are almost constantly draped in a collection of dusty fronds.

1. There is nowhere to store anything. Literally nowhere. Where do you put the Christmas decorations if you haven't got a loft or garage? Or all of the gubbins that you probably should keep but don't want to look at all the live long day?

In addition to this lack of storage and dusty rafters, the radiator in the bathroom takes up the only spare wall, and fills the only space that you could put storage on. There is a space of approx 18cm that isn't taken up by the door opening or the sodding radiator. Theres also a velux window in there that is in the roof, which is about 20ft high and beyond the laws of physics in terms of being able to open it.

I can only think that it was entirely designed by a man.

@Niconacotaco

My boiler. When you open the panel to see the dials, you can’t reach the taps underneath to top up the pressure.

Good grief, I though this happened only to me and this is the only other mention I've ever seen anywhere referencing it!

For some reason, the crew that fitted my boiler situated it so low that I'd have to be acrobatic to reach those tap fillers. I am many things, but acrobatic isn't one of them, therefore I struggled as long as I could with the infernal things then was forced to call out the plumber because my CH or hot water or something failed. BAH.

Last time, I flatly refused to pay anything because the siting of the boiler was their fault and made it impossible for me to adjust the pressure myself, so they actually came out and fitted valves higher up on the pipes and now I can sort it myself.

Any chance you could get your boiler people to fit valves for you that you can reach, without charging?

@pudseypie

Metanium yellow nappy cream with a screw lid! How am I supposed to put the lid on quickly enough before the toddler grabs it and starts squeezing the contents out, or gets up before I can put his nappy on and runs around smearing his yellow stained bottom everywhere? Flip cap please, come on makers of metanium!!

Or get it on quickly before it starts to squeeze ITSELF out of the tube!! That annoying half an inch of extra cream, that emerges, wanted or not... And then you have to either find something to wipe it away, or mush it all over the bastarding screw top lid!!

Weetabix inner packaging, we open them over the sink.

@hopelessatthinkingupusernames

My iron beeps to let you know that’s it’s been left on. Great idea but it starts beeping about 10 seconds after it’s been put down, so anytime you are folding the item you just ironed and getting the next thing it’s beeping like crazy at you

Can’t remember the last time I used an iron though haha

Another rogue beeper... mines the ‘alert beep’ in my car, telling me that my passenger hasn’t put their seat belt on. Only a bag of shopping that apparently weighs the same as a person. And it just doesn’t stop. I’ve clunk clicked my Sainsbury’s finest on many an occasion just to shut it up...

@goingtotown

Weetabix inner packaging, we open them over the sink.

Yes! This x 1000!!

@AlanThePig

Also, its 2021. WHY are we still fighting cans of corned beef with keys? WHY!!?

Also, has anyone ever successfully peeled back bacon film using the little lifted bit on the end without it breaking? I haven't.

I was just about to say about corned beef. The key either gets lost or doesn’t work and you have to hack open the tin in a highly dangerous fashion. I love corned beef hash but have it rarely because of this!

@ShellieEllie

I've never understood why they put blocks of cheese in the packets they do. The opening is always along the longest length/top so you end up having to take the whole item out of the bag just to cut a couple of slices. An opening on the side would make much more sense.

I do that, even when it has the supposed easy opening closing strip. I fold over the end and wrap an elastic band round to keep it from drying out.

@Coroico97

Packaging on batteries - any, but specially the small disc ones for scales etc. You peel the card backing off, but only the top layer ever comes off, and the plastic containing the battery doesn't peel off the card, and you can't push the battery out of the remaining card Agghh! I end up hacking at the packaging with a pair of scissors in a dangerous manner whilst swearing. Drives me nuts.

Not sure if this is the same but the ones I buy C32, are designed to be opened from the back, the cardboard side, it's usually perforated like a star, open that and press the battery out onto a piece of paper. Slide it into whatever device without touching it which can reduce the life of the battery. All of which I was told frequently by the school technician who really knew his onions.

the radiator in the bathroom takes up the only spare wall, and fills the only space that you could put storage on. There is a space of approx 18cm that isn't taken up by the door opening or the sodding radiator

I can only dream of 18cm. My spare bit of wall is 11cm for exactly the same reason.

Just skimmed!

Agree with stuff designed for default human IE blokes.

I remember my first 2 cars- seat went back and forward but not up or down. No adjustment to steering wheel.
The first time I tried a car with steering wheel adjust and seat height it was a revelation! I could see so much better!

The thing about women and crashing is probably not one for a light-hearted thread!

Also those shaped hard plastic things they sell some stuff in. Kitchen scissors and stuff like that. They are really hard to get into and I cut them open and then the plastic is v sharp you have to be super careful!

Also when did they all decide to print washing instructions in clothes so tiny? I can't read the sodding temperature any more! And I'm sure middle aged prior esp women aren't recently a rare group to be doing washing...

Actually there's probably loads more :D

*Urm.. mine looks 2 inches long but a gentle tug and you get at least 6inches work with.
Just push it back when you’re done grin^

How disappointing, only about machine hoses! A very ladylike lady I knew years ago reduced a room to hysterics when she said, talking about dishwashers, 'I don't mind putting it in but I hate taking it out'

@30julytoday

The genius architect of our new build years ago, who decided to place the dishwasher behind the kitchen to dining room door so you couldn’t open the door to carry dirty dishes through when dishwasher was open without them slamming into each other. Clearly HE ( I’m sure it had to be a he🙄🤣🤣) didn’t realise dishwasher had to be opened to be loaded🤦‍♀️

Tea pots that drip- really?🙄🤦‍♀️

Showers in hotels that are only overhead rain type- I can’t wash my bits properly without a handheld..in fact can any women do that?😳

In fact loads of stuff in business type hotels- emergency kits with razor but not sanitary items, dark poorly lit mirrors, mirrors not placed near plug so can’t see to dry hair, trouser press no iron....urgh..now I’m really wound up 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Re showers, I've often wished a could still stand on my hands against a wall!

Another one.
Hungry hippos.
Kids got the game, we took it out, fitted the hippos in, they played, then we needed to put it away.
But in order to put it away we had to unclip the hippos from the frame. So either we can’t fit the game into the box, or the kids need help every time they want to play it because they can’t clip and unclip the hippos by themselves.
I had to admit, fifty three broken fingers later, that I’m not that good at it either. I think that was the lecture I missed, in my Masters in ‘Putting together bits of random plastic crap that children get given’.

We eventually solved the problem by losing all the marbles and then throwing the game away.