Why I like FailBlog - 9 kinds of "FAIL"

I just finished reading all 267 pages of failblog and for the most part really enjoyed the experience. It only took me half a dozen evenings to make it all the way through.

Truly there are some amazing videos, images and screenshots there.

typically a "Fail" isn't just something going wrong. It is something going wrong in complete opposition to its intended purpose. (The fire exit with the do not block signs blocked by the dumpsters.)

I think Failblog contributions fall into 9 categories.

People getting hurt (skateboarders cats and bikers falling and failing). Like slapstick humour, I sometimes like to laugh at the misfortune of others although I'm thankful all the while that it isn't me "failing".

Mockery. Often people solving problems in ways we hadn't expected. This category bugged me. The guy who turned a coffee maker into a hot water supply for a sink that had none... I think some of these are genius, not failures... Perhaps we as a society are becoming elitist.

Vulgar words and shapes. Truly the cheap jokes of the bunch, there seems a limitless ability for people to fail to recognize vulgarity in the objects they make, or to recognize it in things others have made. Some were unfortunate and funny, but many seemed intentional and therefore just rude.

Strange and unexpected juxtapositions. e.g. the frog in the package of salad / the mouse in sushi promo photo.

People in embarassing circumstances. I could have done without this category. There are a lot of unfortunate photos out there and I don't think they all constitute "failure"

Unintended signs and statements like the UN soldier's helmet labelled "UN" right infront of the "involved in africa" message contradicts the intent of the message.

Disasters. I feel sympathy for those in losing circumstances like; The firemen losing the battle to extinguish their firetruck.

My 2 favourite categories...

Really bad design. Useless design, items designed for failure, form and function not meeting in the middle. It seems to me that there are many lessons to be learned here because in most cases there has been a significant investment in the design and yet... I'm intrigued, fascinated by the morbid failures these designs.

Really bad signs. I find these so funny because of the cost and effort generally involved in producing a sign. If we can see it right away, why couldn't the guy ordering / building / delivering / installing / accepting the sign see it.

So there you go. Failblog.... Thanks for exposing an interesting perspective on life.

Cheers,

Greg.

Bad Design

Things are designed for their beauty, their cost, their useability and sometimes just for fun.  It is surprising how often we come across things that seem badly designed given the possibility for greatness in design.

At my work we have all struggled to use our very beautiful entry doors.  They are polished and shiny with hidden hinges.  They are completely symetrical, so that from either side of the door, the door appears the same.  So we are all pushing and pulling when we should be pulling and pushing.  I expect some designer won an award for the doors, but it wouldn't be a useability award.  Here they are:



My co-worker tackled the challenging doors with an office labeler and some discretely placed hints that have so far not been disturbed by the interior design police.



Sometimes the ingenious methods people come up with to deal with bad design are as enjoyable as good design would be.  How many cents did it take to solve the design problem. 5?

In this next photo, can you spot the problem with the card swipe instructions here:



Thats right, the diagram adjacent to the cardswipe indicates that the magnetic strip needs to be on the left...  BUT in the digital image on the right, the orange screen clearly displays the magnetic strip on the right.   Left? or Right?  Well I assumed the hardware was more closely tied to the diagram attached to it and believed the diagram.  "wrong!"  It was the digital image on the orange screen that got it right.

Now how many thousands of dollars go into deploying something like a gas pump, and how many people reviewed the design etc. before it got to me the customer.  (And how many thousands of people a year have to re-swipe their card because of this bad design?)

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did, I'll post more as I find them, so be sure to check back.

Cheers,
Greg.