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Naturally, when you come across a product that’s frustrating—whether mildly annoying or a total disaster—the first question, after wondering if you’re the problem, is often: Who designed this?
To explore that question, Bored Panda reached out to two industrial design students to ask how they ensure their designs are actually usable—and whether it’s true that what we call “user error” is really just bad design.
Turns out, they agree with that idea.
“As designers, it’s our responsibility to make products that are accessible, intuitive, and easy to use. If someone struggles with it, that usually means we didn’t design it well enough,” Jessica Garcia told us.
“A good product should guide the user naturally—without requiring a manual. When we design, we need to test and think from the user’s point of view. If we skip that, we’re not really designing for them. It’s not just about how we think something should work, but how it actually feels and functions in their hands.”
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If you stand to pee, put one foot on the pedal and it will lift the seat. Walk away and it will go down automatically.
Kaitlyn Chuang added that the best designs are “intuitive—so much so that the user doesn’t really have to think about how to use it.”
“If someone misuses a product, it often points to a breakdown in communication between the designer and the user,” she explained.
She also referenced another famous quote by Don Norman: “Good design is invisible.” You only notice it when it fails.
“Take doors, for example. How many times have you instinctively pulled one with a handle, only to find out it was a push door? That’s not the user’s fault—that’s bad design.”
“As designers, we’re responsible for anticipating a wide range of user behavior. That’s why we test—because people will often interact with things in ways we never expected. I’ve had moments where someone used a product I made completely differently than I intended. It can be frustrating, but that’s where real improvement happens. Those moments push us to iterate and design with greater clarity, accessibility, and empathy.”
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On newer vehicles.
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Windows, Apple, everything tries to hide the location where they're storing their files. No I don't want to default to storing on onedrive, I just want to be able to find my goddam files.
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