
The Uncomfortable – a collection of deliberately inconvenient objects - rusk
https://www.theuncomfortable.com
======
plesn
Those are only for fun, but real stuff are designed to be deliberately
inconvenient (e.g. against homeless people):
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_architecture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_architecture)

~~~
rusk
There really is a very sharp relief between security and tasteful design

------
ulber
Very much reminds me of Jacques Carelman's "Catalogue of Unfindable Objects",
one of my dearest book memories. A Google search gives some examples of
objects from the catalogue [1].

[1]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=Catalogue+d%27objets+introuv...](https://www.google.com/search?q=Catalogue+d%27objets+introuvables&tbm=isch)

------
superflyguy
It's a nice touch that the website itself is horrific to negotiate, at least
on mobile. (Yes, of course when I zoom in on a picture I want all the non
picture stuff to expand and cover all the pictures. Who wouldn't want that?)

~~~
maxander
Indeed. The site itself is uncomfortable! It's _meta_.

------
rusk
"Brave" UX design choices - I'm looking at you!

------
Boothroid
You could add most of the APIs I've ever had to use to this list.

------
yial
I know it may sound silly, but looking at these too long actually causes a
minor stress reaction for me. As in, they make me uncomfortable. I think it's
because I imagine trying to use them and the frustration that would ensue.

------
jaclaz
Nice!

Previous work by Jeremy Hutchison:

[http://www.jeremyhutchison.com/work/project47.html](http://www.jeremyhutchison.com/work/project47.html)

[http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2013/01/07/useless-
objects/](http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2013/01/07/useless-objects/)

[http://www.erratum.co/products/](http://www.erratum.co/products/)

------
otakucode
Why do I have this feeling that most of these objects could be used to
document the developers experience working with 'enterprise' Java
constructions?

------
jansho
Clever, and driving my OCD side mad. The uncomfortable mug doesn't look too
bad though, I can imagine a mittened hand slipping through the handle.

------
falcor84
I love the design of that double wine glass; I imagine that it'd only make
sense for two headed ogres :)

------
kapauldo
This is one of those rare things on the Internet (startups included) that you
just "get" instantly.

------
guesto
I like this. It reminds me of that blog about things fitting perfectly into
other things. (except the opposite)

------
pvaldes
Not totally useless. Still can be sold as motivational posters and meme
material.

------
MisterKent
The ones that are usable and broken are good, like the elongated teapot.

The things that no human would possibly design are just silly.

Would love it if they had a site with just the purposefully poorly designed,
but still workable objects.

~~~
dbcurtis
Two words: headphone jack.

~~~
fenwick67
I'll bite: What is wrong with the headphone jack?

~~~
khedoros1
The Moto Z, iPhone 7, LeEco LePro3, HTC U Ultra, the Essential Phone, and
probably a lot of others ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack, in favor of various
wired digital and wireless headphone options. They're referring to the
perceived impracticality of those design choices.

------
tpeo
Unfortunately, none of these things have that subtlety of terrible designs
which makes them so insidious.

~~~
chubot
The biggest anti-pattern is the stateful VCR-like digit displays with a couple
buttons.

They're somewhat going out of style because more stuff has touch screens or
can be controlled by a smartphone. But lots of audio equipment still uses this
"pattern". And thermostats have it.

I'm a programmer and I still have problems figuring out that their state
machine is without the manual. I just bought a $20 clock with the same issue.
It doesn't help when one of the actions is "hold a button" either. There's no
feedback as to what action you performed -- did I hold it for long enough?

