The Design Community Hub

c/bad-ux-confessions

10

lily_sullivan82•15h ago

Told to stop using drop shadows and it backfired hard

A designer I respect said flat UI was the future and drop shadows were lazy. I took their advice and redesigned my whole app interface with zero depth cues. Users couldn't tell which buttons were clickable anymore and my click-through rate dropped 40 percent in 3 weeks. I spent a weekend adding back subtle shadows and the numbers recovered within 5 days. The person gave that advice in good faith but for my particular audience it just didn't work. Has anyone else followed popular design advice only to see real metrics tank?

18

grace926•2d ago

Had to choose between a hamburger menu and a bottom tab bar for a banking app last week

I went with the bottom tab bar thinking it was more modern, but now my older users keep accidentally transferring money when they bump their phone. Has anyone else dealt with accidental taps on bottom navigation causing real headaches?

18

noahw53•17d ago

Finally found the bug in a checkout flow after 3 late nights

I was working on an e-commerce site for a local shop in Austin. Everything worked fine on desktop but on mobile the checkout button would just vanish on the last step. I checked CSS, JavaScript, even the payment gateway. Turned out the error was a missing closing div tag that only broke on smaller screens. It took me about 8 hours spread over 3 days to figure it out. Has anyone else had a bug that only shows up on one device type?

9

ivancoleman•20d ago

Why does nobody talk about that one checkbox that cost me 4 hours

I was trying to sign up for a project management tool last Tuesday and there was this tiny checkbox hidden below the fold that said something like 'opt out of weekly email summaries'. I missed it. Then I spent 3 hours digging through settings to turn off the flood of emails they sent. Then another hour figuring out why my notifications were still pinging my phone. Has anyone else had a default setting waste an afternoon like that?

23

wendy_clark•21d ago

That grocery store app made me walk an extra 15 minutes

Ngl I was at the big Kroger on 3rd street last Tuesday and their app told me the peanut butter was in aisle 6. I walked all the way there and it was just a display of random chips. Then I had to ask a stocker and he said the peanut butter was actually in aisle 10 because they moved it three days ago but the app never updated. Honestly this happens like every other time I use that app. I get that stores rearrange stuff but come on, sync your digital map or at least let customers report wrong locations. Has anyone else dealt with a store app sending you on wild goose chases?

3

webb.stella•24d ago

My grandpa told me back in 2018 that large dropdown menus on mobile were lazy design, and now I finally get why after struggling to pick a flight time on my phone at 2 AM.

He was a retired web designer from Chicago and after fighting that stupid dropdown for 10 minutes I remembered his exact words, has anyone else had an older relative predict a UX trend before it became obvious?

24

joseph_lewis92•25d ago

Had to pick between a contact form and a live chat widget for my buddy's plumbing site

I was helping a friend set up his small plumbing business website in Austin last month. He was torn between a simple contact form and adding a live chat widget for quick quotes. I pushed him toward the live chat since he's always on his phone anyway. First week we got 8 inquiries through it, but 3 were spam bots asking about 'emergency services' at 2 AM - definitely a lesson in bot filters for next time. Anyone else run into this with small biz sites?

25

ninam86•26d ago

Am I the only one who hates that checkout button that changes color when you hover?

I was buying concert tickets for the Eagles in Chicago last month, and the checkout button kept switching from green to gray when I moved my mouse near it. It made me hesitate and almost miss the sale. My wife said, "Why are you hovering over it like it's a bomb?" I think designers do this to test if we're paying attention, but it's just stressful. Has anyone else dealt with buttons that change behavior at the last second? I'd rather have a flat, predictable button that stays one color.

9

joseph_lewis92•27d ago

That grocery app keeps changing where the checkout button is

I almost bought 4 gallons of milk by accident yesterday because Kroger's app moved the 'add to cart' button exactly where the 'checkout' button was last week. It's like they're testing my patience instead of making things easier. Has anyone else noticed these random button swaps driving up impulse buys or is it just me?

26

webb.stella•27d ago

Finally tried that app with no onboarding tutorial. Hated it at first.

I was dead set against using that new filing app at work. No instructions, no hand holding. Just a blank screen. After 3 days of fumbling in San Francisco I finally got it. Now I actually prefer it. The freedom to learn by doing is better than clicking through 50 popups. Anyone else find less guidance actually works better for complex tools?

26

skylershah•28d ago

My client told me my checkout button was too small - she was 62 and right

I had a 62-year-old lady call me out on my online booking system because she couldn't tap the 'pay now' button on her phone with her shaky hands. After that I made all my CTAs at least 48 pixels tall - has anyone else had to redo sizing for accessibility reasons?

27

uma_patel19•1mo ago

Shoutout to that bank website that made me drive 20 miles

I had to visit a Bank of America branch in downtown Austin last week because their website wouldn't let me update my address online. The form kept saying my zip code didn't match, even though I typed it in three times. It's 2024 and you can't build a simple address validation tool? Has anyone else run into that kind of ridiculous roadblock on a major site?

29

patricia385•1mo ago

Can we talk about how my app got way better after one bad review?

I used to think all feedback was just noise, especially from grumpy users. Then someone said my checkout screen had "too many buttons to breathe" during a beta test in Portland last spring. I cut the steps from 5 to 3 and removed a redundant address field. Sales went up 12% that quarter. Has anyone else gotten a comment that totally flipped your design?

22

stellag21•1mo ago

The DMV waiting room kiosk that made me want to scream

I walked into the DMV in Austin last Tuesday and they've got these new self-check-in kiosks. Took me 4 minutes to find the 'I'm here for a driving test' option buried under three submenus, and then it asked me to confirm my eye color. Who designed that flow? A toddler? Has anyone else dealt with a public kiosk that clearly never got tested on real people?

13

barbara429•1mo ago

The hospital kiosk that made me cry in front of 20 people at 7am last Tuesday

I was at University Medical Center near Nashville last week checking in for a routine blood test. That touchscreen kiosk had so many nested menus for insurance updates that I clicked past something important and ended up in the wrong department. Now I'm wondering - is it better to have fewer steps with clearer labels, or more steps that confuse people? Has anyone else been trapped by a registration kiosk that assumed you already knew their system?

12

joseph_lewis92•1mo ago

Finally saw the light after a customer told me our invoice form was broken

Been sending invoices through our booking system for 2 years. A customer last week said she gave up twice because the date field auto-filled to 1970. Looked closer - the dropdown for month was behind a pop-up ad box on mobile. Changed it to a simple text entry field. She paid in under a minute. Has anyone else had a tiny UI glitch cost them actual money?

19

lily_sullivan82•1mo ago

My grocery store's app made me do a 15 minute checkout loop

I was at the register last night and pulled up the store's loyalty card on my phone, the one that saves me 40 cents on milk. The app has a barcode that pops up, but only if you hit the right button in the right order. I swiped it and the cashier said it wasn't scanning, so I tapped back, then forward, then the barcode showed up again. By the third try I had closed the app completely, reopened it, and it asked me to log in again with a password I hadn't used in six months. I stood there resetting my password while two people behind me just watched. The whole thing probably took 15 minutes for something that should have been two seconds. Has anyone else dealt with an app that makes simple tasks into a whole project?

19

josephf10•1mo ago

I tried to cancel a subscription through a chat bot for 20 minutes

Signed up for a streaming service trial last month to watch one show. When I went to cancel, the chat bot kept asking if I wanted to pause instead. After 5 tries of typing 'cancel my account' it finally sent me to a real person. That person tried to offer me a discount three times before they actually processed it. Took 20 minutes for something that should have been a single button click. How hard is it to put a cancel button on the account page without hiding it behind menus?

27

lee_barnes70•1mo ago

Unpopular opinion: paper tickets at counter service spots beat ordering kiosks every single time

I timed it at our local diner last week, and the old ticket system got people through in 2 minutes while the new touchscreen had three people stuck on the payment screen for 5, so why do we keep adding tech that slows things down?

2

kelly31•1mo ago

My brother called my app 'angry' and now I can't unsee it

He was trying to book a flight and every error message had an exclamation point and red text. I designed it to be clear, not hostile. Has anyone else gotten feedback that made you totally rethink your color choices or tone?

25

diana_bell74•1mo ago

Hot take: that new account creation flow might actually be worse than the old one

I swear my bank's app used to let me open a new checking account in about 3 minutes last year. Now they added a 4 step identity verification with a selfie and a scan of my driver's license that takes 15 minutes and still fails half the time. I get they wanted more security after that breach in 2023, but did they have to make it so tedious that I almost gave up twice? My credit union down the street still does the old email plus phone code method and it works fine for them. So which is the real bad UX here: too many steps that annoy people or not enough that let fraud through? Has anyone else noticed a redesign that went backwards like this?

24

nathang67•1mo ago

I finally fixed the worst part of my route planning app after a user complaint

A driver I know sent me a message saying, 'The 'avoid tolls' button is useless, it still puts me on the 407.' He was right, the toggle was buried in a menu and didn't save between sessions. I moved the toggle right next to the start and end address fields and made sure it stays on until you turn it off. Has anyone else had an app ignore a simple setting like that?

8

diana_bell74•1mo ago

Tried to use my bank's new mobile app to deposit a check and it made me take a picture of the front, the back, and then the front again.

I learned that a bad flow can turn a 30-second task into a 3-minute ordeal, so what's the most annoying multi-step process you've seen in an app lately?

22

emma_young•1mo ago

Warning: The city's new parking app charged me twice for the same spot

I used the ParkRight app last Tuesday to pay for 2 hours downtown. Got a confirmation screen with a receipt number. An hour later, I got a second email saying my card was charged again for the same session. I checked my bank and sure enough, there were two $8 charges. The app has no clear way to report a duplicate payment, just a generic contact form. Has anyone else gotten double-billed by this thing and actually gotten a refund?

3

fiona_murray•1mo ago

My bank's app logged me out for 'security' right when I needed to pay a bill

This happened yesterday at 5 PM, right before a $75 utility payment was due. I opened the app, typed in my password, and it instantly booted me to the login screen with a vague 'session expired' message. I had to go through the whole two-factor text code thing again, which took three full minutes. Why do apps do this during the exact times people actually need to use them? It feels like the security check happens at the worst possible moment. Has anyone found a bank that doesn't pull this kind of thing?