When design fails the user

I recently found myself locked in a battle—with my electric toothbrush. Its batteries had been dying for a few days, offering only half-hearted brushes, until I could no longer ignore the problem. But what followed was an ordeal! I nearly fractured my thumb trying to open the stubborn battery panel and spent two days wrestling with it to snap it shut again. The tiny push-button required such strength that, for a moment, I seriously considered abandoning the gadget altogether and returning to a manual toothbrush.

This experience brought me face-to-face with a common problem: great products but terrible user design. They’re everywhere, unfortunately. Have you ever struggled to open a shampoo sachet with wet hands in the shower? Or had to shake a conditioner bottle furiously to extract every last drop of the product you paid for? Or spent minutes trying to open a child-proof bottle, only to wonder if it was adult-proof too? Toothpaste hacks abound on YouTube, teaching us how to use products that shouldn’t need instructions in the first place.

The anatomy of a good design

Not all products suffer from this lack of thoughtfulness. I worked at a baby care company where the guiding question for every product design was simple: Can a mom use this with her hands full of soap and a crying toddler in her arms? This principle dictated everything, from packaging to functionality. Bath washes and shampoos, for instance, were equipped with pumps rather than screw-on caps, allowing one-handed operation.

This focus on ease of use underscores what good design should be about: understanding the user’s real-life challenges and addressing them. It’s not just about the product’s core functionality but its entire lifecycle—how it’s opened, used, reused, and disposed of.

Observation studies during product development can yield insights that lead to meaningful innovations. Fitted bedsheets, for example, eliminate the awkward struggle of lifting heavy mattresses. Pre-charged phones delight users by being ready to use straight out of the box. Upside-down bottles with caps that double as stands ensure we get every last drop of our favourite condiment or conditioner. Even something as ubiquitous as instant OTPs solves a complex problem by making security easy for users.

Poor design and consumer rights

When design fails, the impact extends beyond momentary frustration, it also compromises consumer rights and contributes to waste.

Take, for example, packaging that doesn’t allow users to use the entire product. If a consumer pays for 100 grams of a product but can only use 95 grams due to poor design, they’ve effectively paid 5-6% more for something they can’t use. This inefficiency benefits no one: not the consumer, not the company, and certainly not the environment. Similarly, products that are retired prematurely because of inconvenience also short-change users, wasting money and resources alike.

The environmental implications are also troubling. Disposing of underutilized products or prematurely discarded items adds unnecessary waste, contributing to an already pressing global issue. 

The answer lies in empathy and simplicity

Designers and product managers must step into the consumer’s shoes to understand and address real-world pain points. Thorough observation and user testing can uncover issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, ensuring that every aspect of the product experience—opening, using, and disposing —is smooth.

Designers must also prioritise simplicity. Success in design isn’t about creating the flashiest product; it’s about making something people genuinely enjoy using. A well-designed product should feel effortless. Good design can reduce friction, enhance customer loyalty, and deliver genuine value.

The best products are those that don’t require an instruction manual. Or superhuman strength to change batteries.