It’s not just websites that have bad designs, there are little pissy things that annoy me in life too:
Female Toilets
When designing public bathrooms for women, don’t ever place the sink near the toilet stalls. For men, toilets are a place to run in and out of, but for women it is a place to linger. They like to put on makeup, chat and look at themselves in the mirror. Placing the toilets near the mirror is bad design because the women actually using the toilet suffer from inhibitions due to the proximity of other women just outside. There is nothing more awkward then having a conversation while you are trying to relieve yourself. Good design is to have a separate room for the sink and mirror so that while you are making up your face you aren’t wrinkling your nose from the horrible smells eminating from the toilet.
Paper towels in the toilet
Seinfeld talks about hand dryers and how someone will spend 2 minutes religiously wringing their hands under the hot air then as they walk away they rub them on their jeans. That is why paper towels still hang around, yet they are not without their own faults. Paper towel dispensers are usually mounted quite high so that when you reach up to grab one the water runs all the way down your arm soaking your long sleeved shirt or jumper. Nice.
Ticket inspectors at central citytrain stations
They are there all the time. It’s not like they spring a surprise on you and pop up intermitantly. So why do people wait till they are standing in front of them to pull out their ticket? Also, why do they slow down to show the inspector the ticket? It’s not like they get a really good look at your ticket anyway. I could flash a 3 month old ticket for all they know and if I looked confident enough I could get away with it. Hell, if they have any queries about your ticket they’ll call you back anyway, so breeze through and stop causing a traffic jam. Put bloody turnstyles in like the London tube so that all us seasoned commuters can get home.
What other bad designs do you have to live with?
I discovered another one today. Escalators in new shopping complexes require you to walk all the way across to the other side of the building everytime you want to go up a level. I know this is on purpose to make you see more of the store, but instead it just frustrates me. I’ll miss the old David Jones city store as it has the more considerate escalators. Just keep turning left.
hello amy, long time no chat! lately i’ve been annoyed at upholstery and carpet in cars – i mean, it is not as if you are going to be laying on the floor of your card for comfort! all that goes on the floor (besides rubbish) is dirt from your shoes. surely in the age of plastics and syntetics someone can come up with an economical seat, wall and floor covering that doesn’t get too hot and is easy to clean. and doesn’t stink! man, carpet, especially when the weather is damp, is just whiffy. and then you can go to an auto store or kmart and buy carpet mats to put over your carpet, and you have twice the amount of carpet to clean! (i’ve got issues, can you tell?) /rant : )
I did a little experiment a while ago regarding the ticket inspectors at Central. For a whole week I did everything except show my ticket. Things I tried:
1. Covering crucial parts of the ticket.
2. Holding up the back of the ticket.
3. Holding the ticket upside down.
4. Holding up a receipt for something completely different.
I even tried these when the closest person to the inspector. Wasn’t stopped once.