Bad Design #66 - Quick! call John McClane

It's great when a product gives you everything you need to use it. Like those take away yogurt packs that include a spoon, so you can eat the yogurt. Or that Berocca that comes with its own bottle and water (that was a great idea).

Or this washing detergent by Earth Choice, where the lid is a measuring cup, allowing you to add the precise amount of detergent to your washing.

But sometimes the good intention is nothing but an empty promise, and what began as an "Oh, how considerate of them", quickly turns into…

Why did they even bother?

The Earth Choice washing detergent company was "intelligent" enough to make the lid a measuring cup, GREAT!

Ok, now let's look at those instructions.

A normal load is 50ml, a heavy load is 75ml, to hand wash is 25ml… and the measuring cup is 60ml… and make sure you DO NOT EXCEED DOSE!

WTF! Quick, someone call John McClane!!

Doing the laundry is painful enough without having to solve mathematical riddles in order to get it done.

What gives Earth Choice?! You don't add any markings on the cup, and the "measuring" cup size is not even a multiplier of any of your recommended dosing amounts.

Another half hearted attempt to design a good product, falling short, and simply being, bad design.

Can this be fixed? Of course it can. Will it? We'll see…

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CitizenRod is a designer, artist, entrepreneur, and thinker. Follow him on Medium, Steemit, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, his artwork here, and his startup at Maate.it

Note: This article was originally posted on Medium by CitizenRod.