32 Design Fails That Make Little to Zero Sense, and What They Teach

A bad design is easy to spot in a photo and surprisingly hard to prevent in real life. This collection gathers 32 pictures of buildings, bathrooms, streets and furniture where something clearly went wrong: a toilet roll locked inside a cabinet, ladders trapped by the very structures they helped build, a manhole cover split across three steps and a “keep gate closed” sign on a gate with no fence.

Most of these photos have travelled around the internet for years, shared by Funny or Die, FAILBlog, ViralNova and architecture humour pages, so the exact locations and stories behind them are usually unknown. Some may be temporary situations caught mid-renovation; a few may be pranks. What they have in common is a mismatch between an object and the person who has to use it.

That mismatch is what usability experts study. Cognitive scientist Don Norman, whose book The Design of Everyday Things (first published in 1988 as The Psychology of Everyday Things) made the subject famous, argued that when people struggle with an object, the fault usually lies with the design, not the user. Each picture below comes with a short note on what went wrong and what it teaches, followed by a look at why such mistakes happen.

Bathroom fails

1. Toilet paper behind a cabinet door

The toilet roll holder has been fitted inside the vanity unit, so reaching it means opening a cupboard door from the toilet seat. It probably began as a way to keep the roll out of sight. It is a textbook case of a feature that looks tidy and works badly.

2. Lockers above the urinal

A stack of orange and grey lockers sits right beside and above a urinal in what looks like a changing room. Anyone using the lockers has to lean over the urinal, and anyone using the urinal has a locker door at head height. Changing rooms are often squeezed into leftover space, and this is what happens when nobody checks the clearances.

3. A bath spout aimed at the rim

The tap and spout are set so low and so close to the tub wall that water would hit the edge of the bath rather than fall cleanly into it. It technically delivers water, but plumbers set spout heights so the stream clears the rim. Small measurements decide whether a fitting works.

4. A cistern pinned under the countertop

Better hope you never have to get into that toilet tank

The vanity counter runs straight over the top of the toilet tank, so the lid can never be lifted. That matters, because the flapper and fill valve inside a cistern are the parts most likely to need repair. Designs should leave access for maintenance, not just for daily use.

5. A flush valve in the way of the lid

The exposed flush valve and lever are mounted where the raised seat lid presses against them, so lifting the lid could trigger a flush. Commercial flushometer valves are usually placed behind and above the bowl precisely to avoid this. Fixing it would require moving pipework, which is why it was probably left as it was.

6. Toilet roll across the bath

Just reach across the bath tub to wipe yourself

The roll holder is on the far wall of the bathtub, well out of reach from the toilet. Placement guidelines generally put a holder slightly in front of the bowl on the side wall. The fittings were probably reused from an older layout.

7. A toilet wedged under the sink

The corner basin overhangs the toilet so closely that anyone sitting down risks hitting their head or shoulder. Small bathrooms in older buildings often force awkward compromises. Here the sink and toilet compete for the same knee space.

8. Urinals in a circle

This photo, watermarked by FAILBlog, shows urinals arranged around the walls of a narrow room so users face each other at close range. It ignores the unwritten privacy rules most people follow in public toilets. Good restroom design includes dividers and sight lines, not just fixtures.

9. A tap that pours on the rim

The faucet is too short for the basin, so the stream lands on the edge of the sink and splashes onto the counter. Basin and tap are often bought separately, and the “reach” of the spout has to match the bowl. A simple check of measurements would have prevented it.

10. A door that cannot close

Screw it, just leave the door open. Give everyone a show

The toilet sits so close to the door that the door swings into the bowl and cannot be shut. Building codes in many countries specify clear space in front of a toilet partly to prevent this. An outward-opening or sliding door would have solved it.

Ladders, stairs and handrails

11. A ladder trapped under the gutter

A long ladder is wedged between a window and the roof eave with the downpipe running across it, while two workers try to free it. It looks as if the guttering was installed with the ladder still in place. Work sequencing matters as much as the work itself.

12. A deck built around its ladder

How does this ladder thing keep happening

The timber frame of a deck has been nailed up with the builders’ ladder enclosed inside the posts and beams. Removing it now means dismantling part of the structure. Stories like this are a reminder to walk through a job before closing it up.

13. A fence rail through the stepladder

Ladders are doomed to a life of design fails

A new garden fence rail has been screwed between two posts straight through the middle of a blue stepladder. The drill still lies on the ground nearby. Whether this was a joke or a genuine slip, it is a classic example of focusing on one task and forgetting the tools.

14. A ladder locked in the steel frame

An orange fibreglass ladder stands inside a block-walled space with metal ceiling framing installed around and across it. Like the others, it has become part of the building. The ladder trap is so common in builders’ humour that it has become a running joke.

15. A pole in the middle of the stairs

Yep. Just put the support beam right there

An external metal staircase has a structural column running down the centre of the treads. Walkers have to choose a side and squeeze past. Columns are often placed before stairs are designed, and nobody revisited the plan.

16. A zig-zag handrail

That handrail is the jankiest thing I've ever seen

The white handrail on the wall follows every step and landing in jagged right angles. A handrail should be continuous and smooth so a hand can slide along it without letting go. This one looks decorative but would be hard to hold while climbing.

17. A three-step manhole

A round access cover sits across a flight of stone steps, with parts of the cover on three different levels. The pipe or chamber below was probably there first, and the steps were built over it. It creates a trip hazard and makes the chamber hard to open.

Streets, parks and car parks

18. A traffic light under the canopy

I'm sure this made traffic go swimmingly

The circled signal head hangs so close to a building’s overhanging upper floor that drivers approaching from a distance can barely see it. Traffic engineers calculate sight distances so drivers can see a signal in time to stop. A building added later can quietly undo that work.

19. A locked gate with no fence

You better make sure that useless gate is closed and locked!

A chain-link gate with a “Notice: keep gate closed and locked” sign stands on a front lawn with open grass on both sides. The fence was presumably removed and the gate left behind. Signs and barriers only work when the whole system is still there.

20. A seaside bench facing a railing

A bench on a coastal boardwalk is fixed right behind a metal handrail, so the view of the shore is crossed by bars at eye level. Benches placed for views need to sit lower than, or well back from, any guardrail. It is a small error that ruins the point of the bench.

21. Stadium seats behind a pole

This is perfect if you don't have legs and didn't want to watch the game anyway

A smiling man points to a row of orange stadium seats with a thick steel column directly in front of one of them. Older stadiums with roof supports are known for “restricted view” seats, which are often sold at a discount. This one is restricted to the point of being useless.

22. Kerb paint across a parked car

A dark green Lada Niva parked on the kerb has a white stripe painted across its doors, continuing the line on the kerb. The photo appears to come from Russia or a neighbouring country, where painting kerbs white is a routine spring task. Whether a crew did it to make a point or out of sheer routine, it shows a process followed without looking.

23. A merry-go-round under a ledge

A children’s roundabout with blue frames and red seats has been installed under a concrete overhang, leaving very little headroom. A child standing up on it could hit the slab. Playground safety standards require a clear fall and head zone around equipment for exactly this reason.

24. A road line around a branch

The white edge line on a country road bends sharply around a fallen branch, which was obviously moved later. The paint crew painted around the obstacle rather than clearing it. Now the kink remains for years.

25. A hedge in front of the garage

A long, thick hedge has been planted directly in front of a garage door, so no car can get in or out. Perhaps the owner turned the garage into a room, or perhaps the plants grew while nobody parked there. Either way, the driveway now leads to a shrub.

Furniture, cabinets and signs

26. A sign for a missing bin

A paper sign taped to a tiled wall asks people not to move the garbage can “from this location”, with an arrow pointing at an empty floor. Someone moved it anyway. Signs that depend on an object being present are only as good as the object.

27. A ceiling fan that hits the wall

The blades of a ceiling fan are installed so close to a wall or bulkhead that they have scraped against it, leaving chipped edges. Installation guides commonly suggest leaving roughly 45 cm (18 inches) between blade tips and the nearest wall. This fan shows why.

28. A booth split by a column

In case you want to eat with someone, but not really

A restaurant booth table has a structural column right in the middle, so two people facing each other see a pillar. A decorative sign about forgiveness hangs above a table for two that keeps its diners apart. Restaurant layouts are often planned before engineers mark every column.

29. Sofas in an unfortunate shape

I think drunk kids draw this design on each other all the time

Seen from an upper floor, a set of modular sofas has been arranged into a shape many viewers read as an anatomical doodle. The man standing at the end looks as if he has just noticed. It is a reminder that floor plans are also seen from above.

30. A wall socket behind a desk basket

The desk’s metal under-shelf sits directly in front of a wall outlet or phone point, so plugging anything in means crawling under the furniture and reaching through wire. Furniture and sockets are rarely planned together. Cable access is a design feature, not an afterthought.

31. Corner drawers that collide

I'm surprised they even put anything in that drawer

Two kitchen drawers meet at an inside corner, so opening one blocks the other. Corner cabinets are a known challenge in kitchen design, solved with blind corners, carousel units or angled drawers. Here nobody solved it.

32. Drawers that open into a wall

A set of drawers sits tight against a protruding wall corner, so the handles strike it before the drawers can open fully. A filler strip of a few centimetres would have fixed the problem. It is the last of many examples here where a few centimetres decide everything.

Why design fails happen

It is tempting to blame a single careless designer, but most of these photos show coordination failures. A plumber, a joiner and an electrician each do their part correctly, yet nobody checks how the pieces meet. Furniture is bought from a catalogue without measuring the room, or a building is changed years after the original plan.

Norman’s work offers useful vocabulary. An affordance is what an object allows a person to do, and a signifier is the cue that shows how to do it. A handrail affords grip only if a hand can slide along it; a gate signals “closed area” only if a fence surrounds it. His famous example is the confusing door that needs a sign saying “push”, now nicknamed a “Norman door”.

Common myths about bad design

“Users are just careless.” Repeated mistakes usually point to the object, not the person.
“Good design is about looks.” Several fails above, like the hidden toilet roll, were probably chosen because they looked neat.
“Only professionals make these errors.” Many are DIY or renovation jobs where nobody stepped back to test the result.

Lessons for your own home projects

If you are renovating or furnishing a space, a few habits catch most of these problems. Mark the swing of every door and drawer on the floor with tape before you install anything. Sit on the toilet, stand at the sink and open every cupboard in your head, or better, with a cardboard mock-up. Remove tools and ladders before closing in a frame, and ask whether every fitting can still be reached for repair.

Above all, test the design as a user, not as the person who built it. For a contrasting example of deliberate, thoughtful design, see Tatiane Freitas Combines Old Furniture With Clear Acrylic.

Sources: photos collected from Funny or Die: Poorly Placed Objects, Archiengineering and FAILBlog (watermark on photo 8), as compiled by ViralNova; original photographers unknown. Background: Wikipedia: The Design of Everyday Things.

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