What is a bad design?

“The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products used every day have an effect on people and their well-being”, I found the above statement on the internet and its meaning is quite straightforward. A good design, from a Mechanical engineer’s point of view is the one that fulfills its desired purpose at the least cost and with the least possible amount of resources(Maybe minerals or materials or could also be labour) and has the maximum reliability. Well, all of it in one package is like building a heat engine with Carnot efficiency(ie., it is ideal). So design engineers will have to optimize the parameters to obtain the best bargain between the above mentioned parameters.

                Well, optimizing the parameters is one thing and obvious flaws in the designed component is another. To know what I mean, have a look at the two faucets:

The first one is from my bathroom(It is actually quite an old one) and it is a pathetic design. You will know why when you try to open the tap with soapy hands. There is absolutely no grip whatsoever. How hard could it be to design a faucet handle? The first and the most important parameter must be to ensure that the user can open and close it at all times and one doesn’t need to go to MIT to know that a bathroom faucet will be operated with soapy hands.

The second one however, is a beautiful design. First of all it only rotates by about 90 degrees so it can be operated fast and most importantly, it has a protrusion which ensures absolutely no slippage while being operated.

This is just an example as to how to approach an engineering design problem. The approach applies to everything from a shaving blade to a Bugatti Veyron.

Design evolution is also quite renowned where a design is first made, and based on the customer experience,(like an alpha test) the component is redesigned. This is being followed at every single company worldwide.

So, what is a bad design then? Simple, it is the one which does not satisfy the basic purpose of the design(In the case of the faucet, not being able to use the faucet) that’s all.