28 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (September 8, 2024)

JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor

Sep 8, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Part of being human is trying and failing. We're not computers, or algorithms, or robots, we make mistakes. And that can be a beautiful thing. That's how evolution works: a genetic mistake is made and if it works, we run with it. It's how we get the best art: artists shatter the conventions previously set out for them, making people mad in the process. Someone says a line funny and it becomes a time-honored improv. Someone types "bone apple teeth" instead of "bon appetit" and we have a whole new subgenre of memes. Mistakes are part and parcel of the human experience, and we're better for it.

There are some mistakes, though, that are too egregious not to laugh at. That's why we have design fails, so we can remember the things that make us who we are. And how hilarious it can be when we mess it all up.