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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
mizz jeannine 2 years ago
Check the mode feature click home not commercial
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teanatheart 2 years ago
Or when you buy a phone for it to come so full of useless apps that do nothing for the phone that you can barely download anything, but you can't delete them.
David Brown 2 years ago
I returned the 75" Samsung tv I bought for this exact reason. Bought a 75" TCL, saved over 1k and don't have to deal with any adds in the user interface. Never been more satisfied with a tv in my entire life
Featherytoad 2 years ago
I bought 2 about a year ago. So far, so good. I didn't even know other tvs had unremovable ads. I never heard of this. When did this s**t start?
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iseefractals 2 years ago
Nothing is "unremovable" if you're determined enough. First thing i did when i got my Samsung "smart" TV was to jailbreak it. No more ads, and can run my VPN app directly from the TV
Lady Lava 2 years ago
If you know how to do that, it's a good solution, but many people are not that tech-savvy...
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Riley Hudson 2 years ago
You can block them by adding the website their ads are from to your router's website block list
Peter Parker 2 years ago
Or you just block the entire company and buy a TV that doesn't treat the customer like c**p.
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MarieTDr 2 years ago
Add: larger and larger station icons taking up the screen.
Load More Replies... Keller Worthen 2 years ago
I have that tv. It isn't ads, it's recommendations for movies/shows on streaming services you already own
Peter Parker 2 years ago
I don't care what you call that. It's unsolicited, no customer EVER thought this is a good idea, and it can't be turned off easily. Ergo, it's a d**k move and I will never buy a TV that does this to me.
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Seth 2 years ago
And this serves as a great ad to never buy a Samsung smart TV. I have an excellent Samsung TV that's nearly 20 years old and still works great; 1000's of hours of video games and no burn-in or other issues. It's too bad they abandoned what made them viable in exchange for short term gains.
Analee Frolic 2 years ago
Just as with government, in consumerism, we always get exactly what we deserve: the worst we're willing to tolerate. To put up with something is to support it.
CrazyCatLady 2 years ago
Just btw… be careful with that ‘first’ thing. I saw someone downvoted to hell because of it here.
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Keith Faulkner 2 years ago
Just don’t check the marketing/advertising box when accepting terms and conditions. This is what happens when you don’t read…
Margaret Weaver 2 years ago
Not unremovable, actually, you can download firmware that removes the entire block by moving it below the viewable part of the screen.
James Heartney 2 years ago
Generally a bad idea to get a "Smart" TV. Unless it's running a third party OS like Roku, you may never get any updates, and the user experience will be garbage.
Nuno Prata 2 years ago
My cable company does the same thing. You pay for the service and still have to be bombarded with unskipable adds before each show you load.
Jeanne Mckinstry-Clark 2 years ago
You can if you hook it to a computer and remove them that way.
Ruby Serene 2 years ago
I have one of those, it stays as a second computer screen now (and of course my computer has AdBlock). The ads before the movie you bought the DVD for also annoy me!
I'm Definitely Not A Robot. Nothing Shady Going On Here. 2 years ago (edited)
You can remove the ads by just taking the entire chunk out of the TV. You'll need a very sharp knife, probably a band-aid, and a ruler. Edit: Yes, you can freehand. But don't get mad at me when you f**k up your screen.
Darian Starfrog 2 years ago
Why pay then? Why you paying? Jeez! I'm still gunna say it.. if it's streamed, it's a torrent in hours. ;)
Anthony Howell 2 years ago
Paying for quality and function is smart. This enables longer lasting products with better ROI. If you can't afford it that's fine, but don't get butt hurt when others can.
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Kathy Conley 2 years ago
Why would ANYONE spend $2500 on a tv? I bought a Philips at Walmart 7 yrs ago I paid $475. It’s 55”, no ads, includes Netflix,Hulu. It’s bad enough that we are inundated with ads EVERYWHERE! Its so aggravating!!
Laurie Ostergaard-Overbey 2 years ago
the only thing 'smart' about ALL smart tvs, is that they sell them to you WITHOUT telling you it's a streaming based service. i had my smart tv for almost two years , using it as a computer moniter, as i am sight impaired, and it's a 65 inch screen i can actually SEE, when thier server went down. i had no use of my computer for days....couldnt even troubleshoot. it just wouldnt power on to a usable screen. this should be illegal! a tv is a tv, or it should be
Joanna Stasiołek 2 years ago
Samsung does it to phones too. They have so much bloatware on their phones
Amy Stone-Chandler 2 years ago
That little upside down arrow, if pushed, hides the adds doesn't it? The one under "tvplus" it minimizes it I believe?
Demi Zwaan 2 years ago
Yup. First time in over 2 decades that we didn’t buy a samsung tv. Unfortunately, all smart tvs show ads, just some less intrusive than samsung.
Upsidedowndemoness 2 years ago
We have this. I DETEST it and want a new one but we're a use it until it explodes family.
Anthony Howell 2 years ago
On your router you can modify your DNS setiings to hosts that natively block sites. I've run into mixed results with the DNS tweak and have preferred AdLock and AdGuard for years
Christophe Beunens 2 years ago
Next in line : your smart tv will give personalized ads, based on your Facebook and Amazon profile. That is why it is called "smart" : it tricks the customers into buying more stuff they don't need.
Sheila Stamey 2 years ago
If it were not blocking the interface for other things I swear I'd buy black duct tape. This is that frustrating.
Nobody 2 years ago
oh, you forgot the you have to signup to a samsung.com account to be even able to use your $2,500 tv.
Brent Fisher 2 years ago
And to this day the Tories can't seem to figure out why Communism is the fastest growing sport in America. Capitalism needs to be killed with fire before it lays slimy egg cases...
#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.
Crouching hippo hidden panda 2 years ago
I got banned for a day last week, I backtracked my comments and I hadn’t written anything polarizing or remotely vulgar/offensive etc. i still for the life of me can’t figure out why I was banned and I tried to ask BP for clarification but zilch
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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?
Madeleine 2 years ago
The main problem is that it isn’t sustainable to expect people who are poorly paid and poorly treated to bring you whatever you want on the same day you order it.
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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.
Gavin Johnson 2 years ago
And yet with a quick scroll through you’ll easily find Japanese companies, U.K. companies, Chinese, American, and a few that have no clear country. If the agenda is attacking the U.S. then they are certainly mixing plenty of other nations in there. As for anti-capitalism that’s because these issues relate to being conned by companies, perhaps if they put customers first rather than profit they’d represent capitalism a bit better? It MAY be that capitalism isn’t as good as it could be? It MAY be that you are sucking a bit too much from the capitalism teat? Defending the big business who’ll strip all of your assets is a little hmmm sheepish ain’t it?
Load More Replies... 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.
Crouching hippo hidden panda 2 years ago
I got banned for a day last week, I backtracked my comments and I hadn’t written anything polarizing or remotely vulgar/offensive etc. i still for the life of me can’t figure out why I was banned and I tried to ask BP for clarification but zilch
Load More Replies... 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?
Madeleine 2 years ago
The main problem is that it isn’t sustainable to expect people who are poorly paid and poorly treated to bring you whatever you want on the same day you order it.
Load More Replies... 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.
Gavin Johnson 2 years ago
And yet with a quick scroll through you’ll easily find Japanese companies, U.K. companies, Chinese, American, and a few that have no clear country. If the agenda is attacking the U.S. then they are certainly mixing plenty of other nations in there. As for anti-capitalism that’s because these issues relate to being conned by companies, perhaps if they put customers first rather than profit they’d represent capitalism a bit better? It MAY be that capitalism isn’t as good as it could be? It MAY be that you are sucking a bit too much from the capitalism teat? Defending the big business who’ll strip all of your assets is a little hmmm sheepish ain’t it?
Load More Replies... 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)
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