The Bad.
“Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” — Jared Spool
An example of Bad Design to me is that of the Apple Macbook USB-C Power Adapter.

Despite being an Apple fan, the design of their Macbook Power Adapters hit me in a sore spot, especially the new ones that accompany the new models of Macbooks that come with a USB-C port. Firstly, it loses out on functionality points when compared to the older models of power adapters. The older model adapters were magnetized so if the user were to accidentally trip over the wire, it would snap off, preventing the Macbook from being pulled over the edge of a table. I thought that this design feature was a brilliant addition, as a user myself who went through several hair raising incidents of tripping over my wires. I understand that the USB-C is better, faster iteration of its cousin and will eventually replace all USB devices. Regardless, Apple’s move to overhaul its products fell short of a few sorely needed design features. The previous model of power adapters also featured a couple of clasps which pull out to allow the user to wrap the cord around it, eliminating the tangled mess which would otherwise happen when placed in a bag. I felt that this saved me hours of my life untangling wires and was saddened when they removed it from the newer models. I might be nitpicking here but Apple markets itself as being on the forefront of modern design, constantly showing off their design capabilities with new top of the line products, but the fact that they have yet to tackle a design problem as simple as this itches my brain.

The next example would be Electrical Switches.

The electrical switch is a highly overused product, one found in most homes and buildings. It would come natural to us which switch would work for which light or electrical appliance in our own homes because we are very well accustomed with them. However, I have experienced my fair share of entering a new space and not knowing what each switch does. I came to this realization during my study in architecture and it always baffled me why the electrical switch has failed to correct its failure to inform. I guess ease of use would be a reason for its survival throughout the decades, people have just gotten used to its existence. However, perhaps a better way would be the use of visual representation that clearly depicts what the switches are for.

Another example of a bad design to me is the the website design of Dutch strategic design and development studio, Bolden.

This failure design is one which reminds me as a designer that it is very dangerous to get caught up in a clever sounding design, and gaining tunnel vision with its concept. Beautiful and clever designs appeal to designers like myself and they make me smile. However, there are times as a designer when you forget that a large majority of users are not designers. This is a dangerous path to go down especially when the purpose of a website is to showcase your design skills to the public. Unfortunately, the lesson to be learnt here is that not all clever designs are good designs, especially when they create accessibility, discoverability or usability issues.

This is hence a great example of designing for the designer, rather than the user: the website seriously reduced the legibility of its headlines in its creators’ determination to deliver a novel design. Whoever designed this also left out text to tell users that they’re supposed to move their mouse to the corners, which means the discovery of the headlines relies on happenstance. Furthermore, even when the headline is revealed, the contrast between the text and the background is poor due to the point that you can still see overlapping text. This all adds up to create a user-unfriendly website.