Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
We've all heard about crappy design, something that turns a blind eye to user-friendliness, logic and common sense, aesthetics, and people in general. We’re talking billboards, TV ads, product packaging and product design, websites and apps, you name it.
The phenomenon of crappy design is that no matter how much our marketing strategies and advertising techniques have evolved in the past decades, it still finds its place in our daily lives. Check out some examples of crappy design in Bored Panda’s previous features here, here and here.
This time, we are taking a step further. Sometimes the design is so annoying, senseless and defunct that it seems like the brands are doing this deliberately or at least without shame. There’s even a whole corner of reddit dedicated to cases “when a*** design things.”
With a whopping 2.9 million members, the community pokes fun at the mentality that “nothing comes before profit, especially not the consumer.” Below, we wrapped up some of the evilest designs, so let us know what you think of them in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Ah Station Design
#2
Taxes
#3
Appstore For You
Bad design can be found everywhere, from the products we use every day to the websites we visit. Poorly designed products can be difficult to use, causing us to waste time and energy. They can also be dangerous, as faulty product or packaging designs can lead to accidents.
Meanwhile, websites with bad design can be hard to navigate, preventing us from finding the information we need. They can also be visually unappealing, making us less likely to return. At the same time app can have a very bad user experience which means people will be reluctant to use it. From confusing navigation to cluttered layouts, anyone can spot a very poor design.
#4
Brand New Protein Powder, Not Even Filled Half Whey
#5
Felt Like This Sub Would Appreciate This Statement
#6
Screw You Pinterest
Your content fills up and pollutes the search engine results yet people can’t even view your bulls**t user-submitted content without signing up for a damn account. Going to add to you to my Personal Blocklist so you don’t appear in my searches and waste my time anymore.
Jrog 2 years ago
Pinterest is a cesspool. I found some of my facebook photos had been uploaded on pinterest. A girl (wannabe maker/influencer/scammer) reuploaded them with her watermark and used them as example of her creations. Had to subscribe to the website to report the images, and after weeks of waiting... nothing happened. Zero answers, support or even an automated mail. In the meanwhile those images were stolen by others and popped around for a while on other websites, mostly on ads of promoting scams. Stopped uploading my work anywhere.
Jerk designs seem to take a step further than simply bad designs and come across as downright unethical and immoral. They snuck their way into the products and services we consume, and sometimes we don’t even notice them.
According to Danny Sapio, the lead product designer at Method and cofounder of Confettihabits.com, shrinkflation is a classic case of less product and more profit. “Companies use this tactic to discreetly sell less of a product at the same price that it was before.”
Moreover, Sapio argues that “companies can do this through labeling by displaying “FAMILY SIZE” or “PARTY SIZE” despite it being the same amount as the regular item.” For us, the unsuspecting shoppers, it’s something that’s really easy to miss.
#7
Trashy Company
#8
Hellofresh. If I Don’t Need To Call To Make Orders, I Shouldn’t Need To Call To Unsubscribe
#9
Cashing In On That *cough*
Another great example of jer design practices is the use of lethal enforcers. They require the user to take the action that the company wants before they can do what they intend to do.
“Lethal enforcers are essentially a way that companies gatekeep the decision making for users. Instead of giving users a free choice, the company decides for the individual the decision that should be made then makes that their only choice,” Sapio explained.
An example of a lethal enforcer is when you want to write a review on Yelp but have to download the brand’s app first. “Or when a company suppresses relevant search results to display sponsored products or content.”
#10
I Want My Money Back
#11
I Chose The Bottle Because A Tube Wasn't Enough! This Trojan Trickery Is An Abuse Coming From A Brand With Recognition
Hippopotamuses 2 years ago
Well here’s a company that cares FA about both its customers and the environment.
#12
Bought These Sticky Notes Cause I Thought The Gold Border Was Nice
Sapio also urges to look out for one of the trick questions known as the loaded questions. They take an advantage of our good nature. “We assume that we don’t need to read the entire question because we’ve already collected the information we need to answer it.”
#13
Natural Is A Trademark
#14
So It Was A Lie
#15
Really?
Another very shady design practice is throttling. “Throttling is when a company intentionally downgrades the service or product with the hopes that the customer upgrade. This is different than forced obsolescence because the product still works; it’s just much slower and shittier than it used to be,” the product designer explained.
It turns out that even giant brands like Apple have been found guilty of this. Apple has settled a class-action lawsuit over its practice of slowing down older iPhones, agreeing to pay up to $500 million to impacted consumers.
“Another example is ‘unlimited’ data providers that sneakily slow down internet speeds once they pass a certain threshold of data usage,” Sapio concluded.
#16
Youtuber Gets Every Single Video On His Channel Copyright Claimed Despite Having The Rights To All The Music In His Videos
#17
This Mcdonalds Menu
Mohsie Supposie 2 years ago
Just hold up the queue on purpose till the ad finishes, so you can choose what you want!
#18
Both Weigh 500g But The Green One Is In A 30% "Bigger Bag More To Share"
Adam Chang 2 years ago
Customer: it's a bigger bag with more chips. Company: no no, it's just a bigger bag
#19
Cup Design That Makes The Drink Look Like It Has Actual Fruit
#20
Disney Leaves The Inside Of Their $6 Icecream Hollow
#21
The Sticker Was A Lie
#22
Amazon Prime Video Doesn't Tell You If A Show Is Unavailable In Your Country Until After You Subscribe To Amazon Prime
#23
This Design Pisses Me Off Every Single Day
#24
Unremovable Ads On My $2,500 Samsung Smart TV
#25
Spending $175 On A Textbook Only To Receive A 2 Inch Stack Of Unbound Papers. Binder Sold Separately!
#26
Dislikes Helped You Know If A Video Was A Scam, Misleading Or Had False Information
Hippopotamuses 2 years ago (edited)
Read: We intend to continue to host questionable content as long as it generates revenue for us, and no, we’re not going be transparent about it, because that will obviously also affect our revenue.
#27
Literal Hell For Budget Flyers - Standing Seats
#28
Hey This Hotel Room Is Only $99 A Night, Great Deal!!!
Mohsie Supposie 2 years ago
They should have just said the hotel is FREE, then charge the $99 as a booking fee or something. Who wouldn't like a FREE hotel, eh?
#29
They Replaced Half The Mirrors In My Local Shopping Mall's Bathroom With Advertising Boards!
#30
Heard We Are Having A Rigged Democracy Binge
#31
The Fact That You Can't Uninstall Facebook On Certain Phones
#32
They Decided To Completely Cover Their Tenants' Windows With Ads Because Who Needs Natural Light And Fresh Air?
#33
My Work Place’s ‘Low Plastic, Recyclable Eco-Pens’ Have A Secret At Their Core
#34
My Age Preferences Are There For A Reason, Tinder
#35
Keurig Sensor Blocks Your Brew Unless It's "K-Cup Compatible", Aka Has Scannable Foil. Slap On An Old Foil To A 3rd Party Cup And Suddenly No Issue
#36
Such A Great Deal!
#37
My Chinese "Smart TV" Plays A 15 Second Chevrolete Commercial Every Time I Turn It On
#38
Perfectly Fine Lighters With No Way To Refuel Them... Planned Obsolescence Is Asshole Design And Terrible For The Environment
#39
As**ole School System Charging Kids For Lunch And Then Blaming Parents
#40
My Printer Just Did A Firmware Update And No Longer Recognizes My Third-Party Ink
#41
Shrinkflation Used By Cadbury To Literally Cut Corners. The Bottom Chocolate Bar Is More Than 8 Percent Smaller
That other Panda 2 years ago
Mess with my sandwich, mess with my glue… BUT DO NOT MESS WITH MY CHOCOLATE
#42
5$ Pen Size vs. Ink
#43
Designed For Dissuading The Homeless. Literally Just Uncomfortable For Everyone Else
That other Panda 2 years ago
Why do people do this stuff? Like, if you dont want people to sleep on the streets, there are infinitely better things to do
#44
8% Alcohol Or
#45
Food Delivery Service That Tells You “Someone Is At The Door! Okay We Lied”
#46
I Wish My Professors Graded Like This
#47
Press Dismiss To Update This Printer
#48
Facebook, I'm Beyond Words
#49
Tenerife Airport Shows Ads On The Flight Information Screens Every Few Minutes (For At Least A Minute), So If You're Unlucky You Have To Wait Before Knowing Which Gate To Go To
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Nathaniel 2 years ago
Can we talk about the horrific design behind the downvoting system on this site? Down votes are not dislikes, downvotes get you suspended and then banned. And there are anonymous trolls who follow popular Pandas and downvote comments for no rhyme or reason.
Elliot Fowler 2 years ago
Screw this. This fight against greedy capitalistic demons will never be won if our only hope is waiting for gov official to protect the people. We need to bring back the guillotine and go all french on these bastards.
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
Bad sirs, you sit on a throne of lies. Thirty percent more lies, to be exact.
Alan Green 2 years ago
Can we add Amazon delivery times to the list? (or did I miss it?) So many times I see "Buy within the next 3 hours to receive it TODAY" So i buy it as i really need it quick only to see. . "Estimated delivery time: TOMORROW". . . Why Amazon? WHY?
Uber Mensch 2 years ago
1> It took a site 30 seconds to start sending spam to my email, but they want up to 10 days to make it STOP? 2> "... and other natural flavors" - wtf?
Gary Adams 2 years ago
One of my favorites was the label on a Mr Goodbar. It proudly proclaimed, "Now! More peanuts!" I suppose it wouldn't help sales if they advertised it as having less chocolate.
An Unpopular Opinion. 2 years ago
Dumb design: Disney Plus doesn't even have all the Disney / marvel movies and it makes me mad 'cause like??? Why does it cost that much then, if you're gonna make people pay to watch the movies that aren't there too- Signed, a girl who got bored and thought she'd watch Spider-Man, the old ones OR into the spider verse and none were there
Will Cable 2 years ago
Can we include Youtube thumbnails for videos that do not feature in any form whatsoever within the video.
Bouche Clay 2 years ago
I can see why you'd consider it humiliating, but all I thought was how impressed I was that you were willing to give the inside view. Super bad s**t can happen to anyone, and we only think we have control of our situations.
Model Fact 2 years ago
Stellar journalism as always: 1) Report on what someone said 2) Report on what a bunch of nobodies ("Twitter user Katy") said about it. 3) Publish it under the assumption that it qualifies as journalism.
Nathaniel 2 years ago
Can we talk about the horrific design behind the downvoting system on this site? Down votes are not dislikes, downvotes get you suspended and then banned. And there are anonymous trolls who follow popular Pandas and downvote comments for no rhyme or reason.
Elliot Fowler 2 years ago
Screw this. This fight against greedy capitalistic demons will never be won if our only hope is waiting for gov official to protect the people. We need to bring back the guillotine and go all french on these bastards.
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
Bad sirs, you sit on a throne of lies. Thirty percent more lies, to be exact.
Alan Green 2 years ago
Can we add Amazon delivery times to the list? (or did I miss it?) So many times I see "Buy within the next 3 hours to receive it TODAY" So i buy it as i really need it quick only to see. . "Estimated delivery time: TOMORROW". . . Why Amazon? WHY?
Uber Mensch 2 years ago
1> It took a site 30 seconds to start sending spam to my email, but they want up to 10 days to make it STOP? 2> "... and other natural flavors" - wtf?
Gary Adams 2 years ago
One of my favorites was the label on a Mr Goodbar. It proudly proclaimed, "Now! More peanuts!" I suppose it wouldn't help sales if they advertised it as having less chocolate.
An Unpopular Opinion. 2 years ago
Dumb design: Disney Plus doesn't even have all the Disney / marvel movies and it makes me mad 'cause like??? Why does it cost that much then, if you're gonna make people pay to watch the movies that aren't there too- Signed, a girl who got bored and thought she'd watch Spider-Man, the old ones OR into the spider verse and none were there
Will Cable 2 years ago
Can we include Youtube thumbnails for videos that do not feature in any form whatsoever within the video.
Bouche Clay 2 years ago
I can see why you'd consider it humiliating, but all I thought was how impressed I was that you were willing to give the inside view. Super bad s**t can happen to anyone, and we only think we have control of our situations.
Model Fact 2 years ago
Stellar journalism as always: 1) Report on what someone said 2) Report on what a bunch of nobodies ("Twitter user Katy") said about it. 3) Publish it under the assumption that it qualifies as journalism.
You May Like 50 Cringeworthy Design Fails That Are So Bad, They're Funny 155 Funniest Design Fails 30 Times Designers Created Something Without Realizing It Will Have To Be Cleaned (Best Of All Time)
Ilona Baliūnaitė
Julija Nėjė
Dominyka
Related on Bored Panda
