17 Things So Horribly Designed That We Can’t Help But Laugh

In a world where innovation often steals the spotlight, let’s take a moment to heed the wise words of Charles Eames: “Innovate as a last resort. More horrors are done in the name of innovation than any other.” These aren’t just poorly executed designs. These are the designs that were bad ideas from the get-go.

1. “Not sure if it’s braking or not”

“Everything I learn about this vehicle is a new and shocking revelation of terrible design” – u/chadlavi

“I’m surprised this car is even road legal… no crumble zone and these tail lights? Any public crash tests published?” – u/lurkynumber5

2. “This balcony blocking half of the pavement.”

“Who would even want to sit by a bay window right there where every passing stranger could see you? This would NOT be the place to wander bleary-eyed and naked when you first wake up…” – u/TiredStarling095

“I like the tiny door next to the post. That’s where the little hermit lives who watches over that little plot of land.” – u/DankeyKong

3. “Mate, I don’t think that’s a seagull”

“The seagulls, unable to remove the sign, drew the picture hoping to confuse tourists.” – u/og-aliensfan

“What were they feeding those seagulls?” – u/taizouhasegawa1

4. “Arbitrary stairs in the middle of a hallway”

“Clearly built around an existing/unmovable piece of building infrastructure, probably a renovation after the building was built” – u/torsun_bryan

“I bet the owner has a disabled mother-in-law! ‘Sorry Margaret, the plumber had to reroute a pipe, and we couldn’t find matching replacement tiles if he dug up the floor. This was the only option. Anyway, we’ll see you for Easter. Merry Xmas!'” – u/Capital_Punisher

5. “The armrest of my United Airlines seat has flight attendant call buttons. We are only 30 minutes into the flight, and they have already made two announcements not to accidentally push the buttons.”

“”Don’t accidentally push the button” do they know what “accident” means lmao.” – u/underinfinitebluesky

“I avoid asking for anything from nurses or flight attendants. You always get that same “I’m smiling so you can’t complain about me, but I resent your presence just that same” look.” – u/burner9497

6. “Architect: So how many windows we thinking? Client: Yes”

“Looks like a shanty town in one building” – u/Maelstrome26

“Tell me you added on without a permit without telling me you added on without a permit.” – u/shavedaffer

7. “Someone found a way to make ‘press a button, get to a floor’ complicated”

“Also, (some of) the buttons have Braille on them… The sign, obviously, does not – so how are visually impaired people supposed to use this lift?!” – u/daveymcbride

“Leave it to a hospital, a place where you regularly have emergencies, to be more difficult to navigate than a hedge maze. Seriously, hospitals are the worst and I don’t know why.” – u/TJamesV

8. “You just had to design the reset button in the exact shape and anticipated location of a USB slot”

“Not [poor] design. But pure evil design.” – u/Lord_neah

“Good design that you don’t have to find a tiny freaking paper clip to reset it though. I mean who owns paper clips nowadays?” – u/Digital-Sushi

9. “This deviled egg dish has an odd number of egg slots”

“Chef gets to taste test one.” – u/MagisterPita

“That’s odd” – u/Dibbix

10. “The students at my course complained about not having enough privacy and they decided to install glass doors to solve the issue”

“Nothing a spray paint cant solve.” – u/FakeMedea

“I’d break those. ‘oops! you know glass is very fragile, maybe use wood next time?'” – u/theskunkister

11. “Needed a minute to figure out what it was trying to tell me”

“No, Mr. Connery, the category is “Artisanal”. Oh forget it let’s just go to Final Jeopardy.” – u/rpsls

12. “Hotel key card that doesn’t fit in your wallet”

“”we are not square” did they not consider there’s a legitimate reason that keycards normally all come in the shape/size of a credit card?” – u/underinfinitebluesky

“They could have made it round, but smaller, with the same diameter as normal card width, and it would still be fine!” – Boris-Lip

13. “Something’s wrong with the clock my son got to color in”

“have you ever seen a clock with 12 not at the top?” – u/toxicoke

“Looking at one right now.” – u/KitsuneKamiSama

14. “The staircase at my hotel room just drops off.”

“Oh dear! I’m 100% going to break one or both of my legs.” – u/BigZucchini6032

“Ah yes, Italy…” – u/Madita_0

15. “‘Creativity’ for bathroom signs is getting out of hand!”

“Whoever thought a cryptic puzzle for a public sign was appropriate needs to be fired.” – u/dgkimptom

16. “This signage is impossible to read in the sun.”

“Before looking at the title, I was like ‘Why did someone hang a bunch of giant paper clips on the wall?'” – u/HPfan94

“It’s almost easier to read the shadows than the letters.” – u/Joe4o2

17. “Natural Beauty – four pairs of legs for three enourmous torsos”

“The legs from Beetlejuice” – u/Azadom

“Even more unrealistic beauty standards to live up to. Sheesh, being a woman is hard.” – u/NotMyActualName