c/bad-ux-confessions

That checkout flow on a sneaker site made me rage quit yesterday

I was trying to buy a pair of limited release shoes from a store in Brooklyn, and their checkout had like 7 steps including a captcha that kept failing. The form kept wiping my address every time the page refreshed. I lost the shoes in my cart after 10 minutes of this mess. Has anyone else dealt with a site that just refuses to let you give them money?

That QR code menu at the diner last night was a total mess

Sat down at Joe's Diner on Elm Street for a late breakfast and the QR code took me to a PDF of the menu that wouldn't zoom in on my phone, so I spent 10 minutes squinting at tiny text while my coffee got cold, has anyone else dealt with restaurants that don't test their own digital menus before putting them out?

Took 45 minutes to find the print button, it was hidden under a hamburger menu

Yesterday I needed to print a shipping label from an app called ShipStation. The print icon was gone, no keyboard shortcut worked, and I spent 45 minutes clicking every dropdown. Finally found it buried inside a three dot menu labeled 'more actions' with no tooltip or hint. Has anyone else run into apps hiding basic features behind mystery buttons?

Hated those tiny app buttons until I tried using my phone at a grocery store self-checkout

I was at a Meijer in Detroit last Friday trying to scan my own stuff and this app for their rewards kept putting a tiny 'skip' button right where my thumb naturally rests. After I accidentally dismissed the coupon screen 4 times in a row, some older guy behind me goes 'that app is just trying to trick you.' Totally clicked for me why those tiny touch targets exist - not for looks, but to mess with your flow on purpose. Anyone else notice apps getting worse about where they put buttons during checkout?

Can we talk about the thermostat at my local coffee shop that's literally behind a stack of cups

I stopped into Brew & Bean in Portland yesterday and noticed something that drove me nuts. The thermostat for the whole place is mounted on a wall behind the counter, but it's completely hidden by a huge stack of to-go cup sleeves and napkins. The barista told me they've never touched it because they can't even see the display. Meanwhile it's either freezing or sweltering depending on the time of day and customers keep complaining. I asked why they don't just move it and she said the landlord won't let them relocate the unit because of some lease thing. So they just deal with it and hope the weather cooperates. Has anyone else run into a situation where a simple control is just buried behind some daily clutter in a public space?

That "just use a lighter stick" welding advice from a union guy in Detroit backfired on me fast

Last summer I was welding a gate frame in my driveway, struggling with a cheap Harbor Freight 110v welder. A union pipe welder walked by, laughed, and said "turn down the heat and use a lighter stick, you're burning through everything." So I did. Ended up with no penetration at all, the joint broke when I bumped it moving the gate. Had to grind it all out and start over. Turned out my machine was just too weak for 1/8 inch steel, not a skill issue. Anyone else get bad advice from pros who don't know your gear?

My bank's app made me tap the same confirm button 4 times before it worked

Last Thursday I was trying to pay my electric bill through my bank's mobile app and it took me almost 10 minutes. Every time I hit the big green confirm payment button, nothing would happen for like 5 seconds... then a little spinning circle would appear, then vanish. I tapped it again, same thing. Finally on the fourth try it went through and I realized the first three taps actually registered but the app just forgot to tell me. There was no loading bar, no grayed out button to show it was processing, nothing. Just a dead looking screen that made me think my phone froze or the app crashed. Ended up almost paying my bill twice because I was ready to close the app and restart it. Has anyone else had an app just sit there silent while it processes stuff? Feels like basic feedback 101, right?

I think minimalism in app design gets too much credit

Last month I was trying to file a claim on my insurance app and it took me 15 minutes to find the button because everything was so stripped down. I mean, I get that clean looks are trendy, but sometimes hiding all the options behind hamburger menus and white space just makes it harder to actually use. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather have a cluttered screen I can navigate in 10 seconds than a beautiful one that makes me hunt for stuff. Has anyone else run into an app that went too far with the minimalist thing?

Shoutout to that terrible checkout flow I fought with last Tuesday

So I was trying to buy a simple desk lamp from this site I found through a Google search. Tuesday evening, I'm ready to checkout and it takes me to a page that asks for my email, then my shipping address, then my phone number, then it refreshes and asks for my email again. I swear I typed it in three times before I got to the payment screen. Then the payment form wouldn't let me enter my card number because it kept flagging it as invalid. I tried two different cards and gave up after 20 minutes. I ended up buying the same lamp on Amazon in 45 seconds flat. Has anyone else run into checkout pages that just refuse to work right?

Saw a side-by-side of my app's old checkout screen vs the redesign from 2019 and wow the difference was brutal

The old version had 7 form fields and no progress indicator lol, the new one does it in 3 steps with a progress bar and our cart abandonment dropped like 40% over 6 months has anyone else seen a huge change like that from simplifying a flow?

My client insisted on a hamburger menu with 15 items and I couldn't talk them out of it

A product manager at a startup I worked with in Denver told me users love hidden menus because they look clean, but our analytics showed the main action buttons got less than 2% engagement after we launched. Has anyone else had a similar fight over navigation patterns that just didn't work?

My bank app used to make me tap through 7 screens just to see my balance. After a redesign last year it shows it right on the home screen. Took them long enough.

Blew $40 on a parking app that kept crashing at the garage entrance

Sat in line for 15 minutes while the app froze. Had to back out and pay cash anyway. Has anyone else had an app fail at the worst possible moment?

Had a client demand I move a button 72 pixels left in their app

Last Tuesday I was sitting in a coffee shop in Austin going over feedback with a guy who runs a local flower delivery startup. He pulled out a ruler, put it on his phone screen, and insisted the checkout button needed to be exactly 72 pixels to the left because it 'felt off.' I asked if he'd actually tested it with any users, and he said no, but his gut told him. I moved it, then watched him spend another 20 minutes measuring other elements with that same ruler. Has anyone else had a client who thought physical measurements on a digital screen made any sense?

Why did it take me 3 months to realize my app's hamburger menu was useless?

I was working on this dashboard for a local gym in Denver. Last week I watched a new member tap the hamburger icon three times, then her friend told her no one uses it. I sat there realizing every single feature people needed was buried under that menu. When I checked the analytics, our menu click rate was under 8%. Has anyone else had that moment where you just stare at your own design and ask 'what was I thinking?'

Found out my app's button color was causing a 12% drop in signups last month

I had this bright green signup button that I thought looked really modern. Then I ran a simple A/B test with a darker blue version and saw signups jump by 12% over 2 weeks. Turns out the green was too similar to the background for older users to notice. Has anyone else found a tiny color change that made a huge difference in conversions?

Spent 6 months ignoring user testing until I actually watched someone try my app

I used to just design based on what I thought made sense, but last week I sat with a stranger for 15 minutes and watched them get stuck on a button I thought was obvious. Has anyone else been shocked by how differently people use your stuff than you expected?

That time I hid my dashboard behind a hamburger menu and nobody touched it for 3 months

I redesigned my grooming shop's booking page back in 2022 and thought I was being clever putting all the options behind a triple line menu. Then a customer friend said 'I just call you because I can never find the cancel button on that site.' I checked the analytics and she was right. Nobody was clicking that menu icon at all. Have you guys ever had a design choice that just absolutely bombed with real users?

Tried two different checkout flows today and one was way faster

I compared a one-page checkout with a multi-step one on two different websites and the one-page version got me through in like 30 seconds less... has anyone else noticed a big speed difference with those?

That "save as" habit I had almost ruined a whole project

I used to just hit Ctrl+S without thinking, but in Figma that writes over the same file. Lost a version my client LOVED after 2 days of edits. Now I hit "Save as copy" every time before I start a new round of changes - has anyone else lost something good this way?

That fancy $80 ergonomic mouse gave me wrist pain worse than the cheap one

I swapped to a vertical mouse six weeks ago because everyone swore it would fix my carpal tunnel, but my wrist actually started hurting more after using it. Turns out the grip angle forced my hand into a weird position that strained different muscles. Has anyone else had a supposed solution backfire on them like this?

Had a talk with my grandma about her TV remote and it hit me different

Shes 78 and uses a Roku but the remote has like 20 buttons she never touches, she just wants volume and channel up. Why do we keep piling features into interfaces without asking real people what they actually use? Has anyone here had luck simplifying a UX for older users without breaking the whole thing?

The coffee shop with a menu you need a map to navigate

I went to this new spot in Denver last week called something like Brew & Bloom. Their menu board had 40 items crammed in 3 columns with no categories, so it was impossible to tell what was a latte or a breakfast sandwich. I stood there for 5 minutes trying to find a simple drip coffee. Why do places think more options without any order is helpful?

My banks app locked me out for 45 minutes because I fat-fingered my password twice

Last week at lunch in Baltimore I tried to check my balance on the credit union app and after two wrong attempts it forced me to wait a full 45 minutes before trying again. The error screen just said 'too many attempts' with no countdown or explanation, so I sat there staring at a frozen burrito wondering if my account got hacked. Why do apps make you wait exponentially longer instead of just letting you do a reset or verify by text?

Pro tip: check your app's dark mode on an actual phone before shipping

I spent two weeks polishing a dashboard design in light mode, then a beta tester in Chicago sent me a screenshot of what it looked like in dark mode and half the text was invisible because I never once tested that toggle before going live, has anyone else shipped a feature only to realize you missed a basic accessibility thing like that?