October 31, 2004 02:04 AM

Broken: (Rerun) Playground design

 Mark Foley writes from London:

These photographs were taken on a walk in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe in London.

This is one of those things were you figure at least, say, five people must have been involved in the decision, and no-one at any point seemed to think it was a bad idea.

Perhaps it's deliberate - so that parents can say, "If you don't place nice, now, you know what's going to happen..."

October 29, 2004 12:25 AM

Broken: American Airlines map legend

Rob Borucki writes:

The American Airlines route map, from the AA.com website, has nice little icons which represent different types of service in each city.  But what's the red square for Eureka/Arcata and Redding?!

October 28, 2004 12:01 AM

Broken: (For fun) Real estate photos

Creed Combs points us to the photos on this page, which appear to be from an old website advertising a house for sale. One of the pictures shows a bit more than the photographer had bargained for. The title of the page should give a hint.

October 27, 2004 12:05 AM

Broken: Primark "customer services"

Linda Hawkins writes:

Not broken, just amusing: I took this photo a few weeks ago in Norwich, UK at Primark, a discount clothing retailer. My husband wondered whether the corporate headquarters would allow employees to provide the type of services suggested by the display?

October 26, 2004 12:29 AM

Broken: Ad banner of impossible piano

I saw this ad awhile back, while listening to a classical radio station (Radio Classical, I think) through Windows Media Player. Most people listening to a classical station should know what a piano looks like, and this one is missing C# on every octave.

October 25, 2004 07:55 PM

Broken: Ohio ballot design

Monica Fry writes from Cuyahoga County in the swing state of Ohio:

Here is a version of our voting ballot that is quite confusing. Candidates that are supposed to be mapped to boxes #12 and #14 have labels and arrows that read #2 and #4. If an individual wants to vote for Bush/Cheney do they mark #4 or #14? Moreover, the non-linear progression of numbers is annoying (6, 10, 2, 4). Hopefully this will be fixed before we Ohio-ans go the polls in a week.

Update 10/26/04: Monica writes in again: "Since I sent it to you, I've learned that this situation is limited to the absentee ballots only."

It's unclear if that's the current version of the ballot, or if it was one of many; if the "2" and "4" are intended that way, or if they were typos and should have been "12" and "14". Regardless - scary.

Broken: Windows "frequency of use" dialog

Michael Earley writes:

So, out of curiosity, I clicked on the link in the "Add/Remove Programs" feature of Microsoft Windows.  Windows kindly provided me with these WONDERFUL definitions of Rarely, Occassionally, and Frequently.  I feel, somehow, belittled.

October 22, 2004 12:01 AM

Broken: "Walk" signal visibility

Brian Everton writes from Winnipeg:

I walk by this intersection often.  It is right next to a neighbourhood elementary school.  It would seem that the utility pole is older than the pedestrian crossing signals.  Regardless of which came first, the civic signals department personnel continue to service the pedestrian signals which are hidden by the utility pole.  The utility pole is not much more than 18 inches in front of the signal lights.

October 21, 2004 10:43 AM

Broken: Yahoo's new links

Yahoo has posted a beta of its home page. It's a nice design, with several improvements listed here.

But one tactical "broken" issue: the links aren't underlined!

I don't mean to pick on Yahoo, because I see this more and more in expensive redesigns: somehow the designers must think they're being extra cool by not underlining the link.

My question: why would a company choose to make its links harder to distinguish?

Broken: U.S. coinage

[Not actually broken, but an interesting point on coinage design. -mh]

Daniel Brown writes:

When traveling abroad, I've always admired other countries for their use of color in their currency. I believe Australia has another unique angle in printing their money on the same material used for FedEx envelopes, making it quite difficult to tear. I even marvel at the ability of other countries to make their paper currency different sizes based on their denomination.

The U.S. Mint, on the other hand, breaks all of those rules - plus one. All of our paper money, from a $1.00 to a $100.00 bill, are exactly the same size, and for those visiting the U.S. from abroad, our coins do not have a number value stamped on them. There is no "1" on a penny, no "5" on a nickel, no "25" on a quarter. It says "five cents" and, if our alphabet is something you can read, you're in good shape. A dime says only "one dime". You'd need to know what the heck a dime is to know what you're holding.

Our paper money has numbers on it; why not the coins?

October 20, 2004 12:33 AM

Broken: Paris-Vegas display

Greg Osborn points us to this photo from his trip to Las Vegas in August 2001.

He writes, "Now appearing at the Paris: Windows error message! At least their fountain can't 'crash'.  :) "

October 19, 2004 12:03 AM

Broken: Rubbermaid search

Leo Frishberg writes, "Rubbermaid makes a wonderful children's high chair." He points us to this problem:

Go to Rubbermaid's site, specifically their products section, and in the search box, enter 'High Chair'. You get two results...

FG5B6100MEDI
FGHSLITTERKIT

...neither of which has a working graphic, or any descriptive data when you click on the links.

Try it yourself: Rubbermaid products section

Is this the best Rubbermaid can do?

October 18, 2004 12:01 AM

Broken: United.com error message

Steve Johnson writes:

I clicked on my United frequent flyer email and this was the result. I have seen some incredibly incomprehensible error messages but this is more incomprehensible than most:

"Squid did not receive any data for this request."

October 15, 2004 12:01 AM

Broken: (Just for fun) Taco recipe translation

Don Blackwell points us to a good recipe for the Mexican dish tacos al pastor, written in Spanish. Google provides a translation of the recipe on this page. As Don points out, the funny thing is what happens to the ingredient "1 trozo grueso de piña" in the translation. (Hint: it's the sixth ingredient on the translated page).

This is just for fun - we love Google's translation service!

October 14, 2004 07:20 PM

Broken: Volvo homepage Seth Godin points us to this gem: the home page of Volvo cars - http://www.volvocars.us - shows a list of models and the words "Roll Over."
Igor takes it a bit further.

Broken: London bus ticket kiosk

Nancy Perlman writes:

In central London, you must have a ticket before you board the bus. The driver can not officially sell you a ticket. The goal: speed things up on the buses without conductors (most, these
days). So... ticket machines are installed at every bus stop, and they do not provide change.

The machine's instructions read, "select ticket first" and show an arrow pointing down. But
observation demonstrates that many people try to put a coin in the slot first.
Coin is spit out.
Person tries again.
Same experience.
Person misses bus or sympathetic driver accepts cash. Person may also lose coin and jam machine.

Why? People see the slot and reach for it - they don't read the instructions. It appears to be
the instinctual reaction to put in the coin, then select the ticket..

P.S. - this picture was taken with a not 100% usable Siemens S55 phone. Sticker with pig is not a feature of the ticket machine.

October 13, 2004 12:58 AM

Broken: Making software global

Brian Johnson points us to this recent CNET article, which talks about several Microsoft products that were recalled, or otherwise caused problems, because they were not properly changed for users outside America:

[C]hanting of the Koran [was] used as a soundtrack for a computer game and led to great offence to the Saudi Arabia government. The company later issued a new version of the game without the chanting, while keeping the previous editions in circulation because U.S. staff thought the slip wouldn't be spotted, but the Saudi government banned the game and demanded an apology.

Broken: Sears.com order status

Jay Goldbach writes:

Sears has a great service on their web site to order parts for just about any appliance ever made. This is great for ordering something like a replacement belt for your dryer after it breaks. Unfortunately, there are three problems:

1) No information on when item will ship...before, during or after order. They do, however, encourage you to use their online status web site.
2) They only update their online status site once per day.
3) No status is ever available on the site (see picture).

This won't keep me from using this service, since it is invaluable. I just curse them with every piece of clothing I hang on the line.

October 12, 2004 12:31 AM

Broken: Unsubscribe message

Dan Patterson sends a screenshot of the Web page he got when he requested to unsubscribe from a mailing list. The page reads, "Last offer before you go: Free Sample of Essential Mineral Drink!" Dan writes:

Photo caption - "Oh, alright. I just told you I wanted to stop receiving your email communication, but you convinced me - keep me on your list."

October 11, 2004 12:01 AM

Broken: Japanese pizza sign

Kenny Kato writes from Japan:

I went into a bakery at a train station in Odawara, Japan. It was very accommodating to English speakers, as just about everything written in Japanese had an English translation right under or next to it. However, I saw one sign on a clay pizza oven that seemed a bit strange. The Japanese text warns not to touch the oven because of the high temperature, but the English translation does not seem to imply the same amount of caution.

October 8, 2004 12:33 AM

Broken: Apple iPod remote

Daniel M. writes:

Normally Apple is associated with great design, and putting lots of thought into usability. But they definitely dropped the ball on this one. The iPod remote is shaped in such a way that makes the top virtually indistinguishable from the bottom. When you have it in your pocket or out of sight, and you want to change the volume, skip or pause a song, you actually have to look at the remote to see which direction it is facing, or run the risk of hitting the wrong button.

This could easily have been solved by using a technique such as the one that has been present on telephones for the longest time - a raised dot over the #5 key, designed to aid visually impaired users. I find it extremely easy to dial my cell phone without looking at it due to this. Why Apple didn't consider this in their remote design is beyond me.

Broken: West Virginia library spelling

The Livermore library thing yesterday reminded me... Daisy Porter pointed me recently to this Museums of West Virginia site.

There's a problem with the spelling of that library!

Daisy adds: "Amusingly, if you Google 'pubic library', you get over two thousand results, most of which are clearly misspellings..."

October 7, 2004 12:25 PM

Broken: Michigan absentee ballot

Neale McDavitt-Van Fleet points us to this brewing election problem in Michigan... on the absentee ballot, the arrows are mis-aligned with the presidential candidate names. The closest arrow to both Bush and Kerry is the one that registers a vote for Bush.

See the full scan here. (Scroll down to the presidential names.)

Broken: Misspelled Livermore library mural

Codeman38 points us to this breaking story from Livermore, California: the city's new library unveiled a new mural, created by Miami artist Maria Alquilar. Only one problem:

"[The] $40,000 ceramic mural was unveiled outside the city's new library and everyone could see the misspelled names of Einstein, Shakespeare, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo and seven other historical figures."

Ms. Alquilar, for her part, agreed to fix the changes but didn't apologize, complaining that "they are denigrating my work and the purpose of this work."

Broken: Plastic dart board

Sajjad Woodward writes:

This thing is quite frustrating. The darts do go in... occasionally. The design needs some work, I think.

OK, I can put it in the recycling bag now.

October 6, 2004 12:08 AM

Broken: Sprint PCS billpay

Amar Pai writes:

When I saw This Is Broken, one thing immediately came to mind: sprintpcs's INCREDIBLY STUPID online bill paying page.

I've attached a picture. Look at the field where you fill in your credit card number. It can only hold 13 digits before you start scrolling (meaning you can't see the first digits you typed by the time you're entering the last). Credit card numbers are always 16 digits. How hard would it have been to make the field 16 digits?

October 5, 2004 11:05 AM

Broken: Grassisgreener.com signup

Separately, Peter Noteboom writes in to say that there's no way to sign up for a new account on grassisgreener.com, a jobs site:

I wonder how many people are using this site to search for jobs. Apparently, their users are getting their user names and passwords from somewhere else, because it is not possible to register on the site itself. I tried every link, including support and FAQ links, and there is literally no way to sign up.

Broken: Cancel/submit button

Scott Reiter writes:

This is from our corporate travel site. This page appears when you are trying to cancel a reservation (air, car, hotel, etc). What's broken is that the cancel button actually reconfirms the reservation.

October 4, 2004 12:01 AM

Broken: "Expensive" store name

Here's a shopping bag I spotted in Spain recently. The name of the store is emblazoned on the broad side of the bag:

    expensive!

And then on the side, the bag includes the tag line:

    *not* expensive fashion

Why create a name that needs to be defended by the tag line?

October 1, 2004 12:01 AM

Broken: Ski lift sign

David Reevely writes:

A sign at the Blue Mountain ski hill in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. I can't decide whether it's a very clever way to make skiers think extra long about the capacity of the lift or if it's just mindlessly dumb.

[The sign says, "This is a six person chair lift" and shows a hand with six fingers. And yes, I know that the extra finger was probably just for fun. -mh]