1. When the faucet is too close to the edge of
the sink and you don’t have room to wash your hands
(we’ve all been here).
Why: Poor product design.
2. When I go to an academic advisor and they
have never even heard of the Innovation Academy.
Why: They live under a
rock. Like come on, it’s one thing for a student not to have heard of it, but
these people work for the university
and are supposed to be there to give us academic
advice. How can they give me academic advice if they haven’t even heard of
the academic program that I am in? This has happens way more often than it
should.
3. When I need to use scissors and the only ones
available are the “ergonomically correct” ones.
Why: Lefty inequality!
Ban ergonomically correct scissors! (If you’re a righty, I encourage you to try
using those evil things with your left hand. Then maybe you’ll understand the
pain and suffering that us lefties go through.)
4. When a public computer is set up in a way
that the mouse cannot be moved to the other side, requiring me to sit there
awkwardly with my whole body twisted just to reach the mouse or struggle to use
the mouse with my right hand.
Why: People forget
that lefties exist and don’t think to wire the computers with enough cable room
to move the mouse to the other side.
5. The Dunkin Donuts at Turkey Lake Service
Plaza in Orlando (which is on my way home from Gainesville) has never once
gotten my coffee order correct.
Why: Maybe not enough
training? Or just really bad luck on my part? I don’t have a complicated order
(really, it’s only an iced coffee), and yet every time I stop here they get it wrong.
Honestly I should probably just start going to a different one.
6. People who are on the phone on the upper
floors of the library .
Why: Because they either
don’t know the rules or don’t have the patience to walk downstairs when they
get a phone call.
7. Drivers who go straight in a right turn-only
lane (especially when it’s a red light and everybody behind them is waiting to
turn); specifically at the intersections of 34th St & 2nd Ave, and 34th St & 20th St.
Why: This problem
exists because drivers didn’t see (or chose to ignore) the large obvious sign
with the obnoxious flashing light. I wish cops would just sit out at these
intersections and ticket anyone who does this. It can be very annoying and can
really back up traffic at peak hours.
8. Not being able to name group text messages (like
you can in GroupMe)
Why: Because Apple
hasn’t thought of this yet or has deemed it unnecessary.
9. When it starts raining on your way to class and
you only have a rain jacket or a small umbrella (so no golf umbrella), and you
have to choose between either you getting wet or risking the laptop in your
backpack getting wet.
Why: This problem exists
because backpack umbrellas don’t exist. There is always the option of those
clear plastic backpacks, but then everyone can see all your stuff and how messy
your backpack actually is, and that is a whole different problem.
10. Not being able to make a left turn onto 34th St coming from 28th Ave.
Why: There is a median
in the way. Poor construction design? Or maybe this is to prevent accidents
from occurring since 34th St gets a lot of traffic.
11. Not being able to search for something that
is along your route destination in Google maps.
Why: There is not
really a reason why this doesn’t exist yet, other than because nobody has made
it happen. The technology is out there, someone just needs to make it happen. Imagine
how much more convenient it would be if you were able to search for things along
your route instead of having to close out of the navigation entirely to do a
new search when you get hungry or need to stop for gas.
12. Not being able to find ice cream past a
certain time in Gainesville without driving a significant distance.
Why: Because there are
very few ice cream places open past 10 that serve ice cream, and most fast food
places usually start cleaning their ice cream machines around this time.
13. Most girls’ shorts and pants have really
small pockets.
Why: I guess this
exists because girls tend to carry purses. But why are we always expected to carry
a bag with us? What about those times when we actually can’t bring a bag due to
safety restrictions put in place by certain venues? Why can’t they just make
the pockets bigger?!
14. Not being able to find parking on campus or
in the midtown and downtown areas.
Why: UF and
Gainesville have very limited parking.
The Gainesville area is relatively condensed, with a high number of businesses
and buildings in a relatively small area, meaning less room for parking spots.
15. Most of my music is through Amazon Prime, but
to set an alarm on my phone I have to use music that I have bought through
iTunes .
Why: Exists because Apple
wants you to buy music from them and not other music services. This actually
bugged me enough that I submitted a suggestion to Amazon through their music
app and asked them to create a feature to let me set an alarm within the app.
Still hasn’t happened yet, but yay for me taking action.
16. When I’m on the phone with someone on my
iPhone, and I get another incoming call, hitting the “End and Accept” button to
end my current call and answer the incoming one will sometimes just end both
calls.
Why: Technical
glitch? Honestly I don’t know. This could
be just be a technical problem with my specific phone or with iOS operating
system in general.
17. Not being able to change the font color in
the Notes app on my iPhone.
Why: Again, this bug basically
exists because nobody has made it happen yet. There are other apps on the
market that will let you do this, but the only ones that I have been able to
find you have to pay for. And who actually pays for apps on the app store?
18. When the underwire in a bra starts to pop out
and poke you. It’s painful. And usually inevitable.
Why: I guess it is
generally just from normal wear and tear, but it is still annoying because it
basically means you can’t wear the bra anymore even if it is otherwise still in
perfectly good shape.
19. When people don't clean kitchen surfaces after cooking with raw meat.
20. My apartment complex has only one recycling
bin per dumpster, and most of the time they are either full or missing
completely.
Why: Honestly probably
because they don’t recycle anyways. I’ve lived here for almost a year and have
not once ever seen them pick up the recycling, only the trash. I’m pretty sure
they just dump whatever is in the recycling bin into the dumpster before they
pick it up.
I found this assignment pretty easy in the beginning because I've actually kept a list of "bugs" as you call it on my phone for years. It was definitely a good place to start, but by no means was it enough to complete the list. Once I got down to the last few I definitely struggled to come up with more!
Briana,
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to you on a few of your bugs, as I am a lefty, and I understand your pain with the right-sided mouses and scissors. Also, your # 7 bug is a very annoying one to experience, especially with the amount of signs and time to merge to another lane. I must say that you have a respectable list of bugs.
-Patrick
Great list of bugs! I am right handed and would not have even considered any of those lefty annoyances, seems like a lot of potential there. I think it is incredibly wise of you to have already kept a bug list and to make suggestions to companies such as Amazon. That shows a lot of ingenuity and confidence. Many of your bugs appear to be technology based, and it almost points you in the direction to look for future success. Good luck in all you do.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to lie... Your bug list had me cracking up! Not because I'm laughing at you, but because I can relate on so many levels. The very first one especially was mind blowing to me specifically though. I always knew in the back of my mind that the structure of sinks could be inconvenient, but I guess it never really registered as a bug of mine because I just got used to it naturally. What was surprising to me though is that you found this exercise easy! It took me awhile to come up with my bugs because I never really pay attention to small issues or things I can't control. It's got to be a mindset thing for sure, but I enjoyed your article!
ReplyDelete