Lame product design



Example 1: I received a tiny Western Digital Portable Hard Drive for the holidays. When I opened it up, I noticed that the case appeared to be cracked. I took it back to the store and showed it to the clerk. Two employees agreed that it appeared broken, so I swapped it for a new one. I got home, opened it up, and saw the same crack. I'm now convinced it's supposed to look that way. Safe to say if the customer and two salespeople think your product must be broken, you've done a bad job designing the product.

Example 2: Based on a recommendation from iLounge, I bought a Belkin Remix Metal case for my new iPod. But when I took the case out of the package, I couldn't figure out how to open it. I have a habit of forcing and breaking things, so I searched the package for directions or some clue. No luck. Fortunately, the internet came to my rescue. Answer: You are supposed to force it open. (Other than that, I love the case.)