Badge of dishonor
Signs of Bad Design
This is the sign that inspired this entire series of signs of bad design. It is found on the Google campus in Mountain View, California. Just about
Ceci n'est pas un poubelle
Signs of Bad Design
This sign lives in my friend’s kitchen in West Oakland, California. The size of this container and its position on the floor absolutely gives trash
This sign is a crime
Signs of Bad Design
This is a real sign near my house. Or at least, it’s a scribbled version of it but the language is the same. The sign lives in the parking lot of a
Do not water
Signs of Bad Design
Signs of Bad Design are often used to counteract the impact of a strong affordance. These plants look positively water-able, and yet it’s the wrong
Permanently fixed
Signs of Bad Design
A Sign of Bad Design that is also poetry. It deftly employs two meanings of “fixed”: securely placed, immovable repaired The knob, having broken,
Extraneous labels, ignored conventions
Signs of Bad Design
A big part of content design is labelling interactive elements. But you don’t always need labels. This is one such “interactive element” from the
Don't have an emergency here
Signs of Bad Design
This sign is almost certainly a work of satire, but it is too good not to share. It evokes those “under construction” signs that were rampant on the
Let's be reasonable
Signs of Bad Design
Lawyers love to throw around the word “reasonable” as though ordinary people could ever possibly agree on what it means. But it wasn’t an attorney
Turn around, bright eyes
Signs of Bad Design
This sign lives at the Coliseum BART station in Oakland, California. Its intended audience is people trying to get to Oracle Arena. Unfortunately,
We could be zeroes
Signs of Bad Design
Take a minute to think about what’s happening here. These are awfully strange hours for a store. Why do you think they did this? A. They did it for
Sorry no pizza
Signs of Bad Design
I found this charlie foxtrot at a bowling alley in Albany, California. It’s content design carnage. Let’s dig in. This is a kiosk for hungry patrons
Do not enter, exit only
Signs of Bad Design
I saw this sign at an airport and it gave me pause. By which I mean it literally stopped me in my tracks. This sign conveys two pieces of
Choke on this
Signs of Bad Design
Nothing exemplifies Signs of Bad Design like this monstrous situation. This is a gumball machine. Most folks are familiar with the shape. In UX
The Signs of Bad Design
Signs of Bad Design
Experience design is about helping people do things—solve problems, achieve goals, have a great time. It’s not always easy. And the practitioners of