“To err is human, to forgive is divine.” You’ve probably heard this popular quote before, Pandas. After all, we all make mistakes, and nobody gets everything right all the time. But some mistakes are so baffling that you have to wonder what was going through someone’s mind when they made them!

And that’s especially true when it comes to design. A good design can make everyday life so much easier, but a bad one? Well, it can leave you confused, frustrated, or even wondering how anyone thought it was a good idea in the first place. From toilets that seem almost impossible to use to parking lots that make no sense and staircases that look like accidents waiting to happen, these design fails are a whole new level of questionable. We scoured the internet to find some of the most ridiculous examples. Keep scrolling, Pandas, and see which ones leave you scratching your head!

#1 They Put New Carpet On The Stairs

#2 This Horrible Bathroom I Saw At A Burger King In Oregon

#3 These Blocks That Should Say "Fall" But Definitely Say "Fail"

If these posts prove anything, Pandas, it’s that good design is about much more than making something look nice. A building can be stunning, a ship can look impressive, and a gadget can promise to change your life, but if the thing doesn't actually work as intended, we've got a problem! And believe it or not, history is full of expensive design blunders that prove even the most ambitious ideas can go spectacularly wrong. Let's take a look at a few famous examples!

#4 There Is Only One Elevator Call Button In This Photo, The Rest Are Just Design Motifs.

#5 Paused Mid-Bite When I Saw It (It's Printed On The Plate)

#6 This Awful Bread Packaging Design, Which Looks Exactly Like Mould:

You might expect a massive warship built for the Swedish Navy to be ready for battle, but the Vasa barely made it out of the harbor. The ship was designed to carry an impressive collection of cannons across two gun decks, but all that weight made it dangerously top-heavy. In August 1628, it sank less than a mile into its maiden voyage after a gust of wind caused it to heel over and take on water. As explored in The Sinking of the Vasa: A Shipwreck of Titanic Proportions, the disaster was largely caused by the ship's instability. The king had demanded a powerful warship, but the vessel's proportions couldn't safely accommodate the heavy armament. Today, the Vasa is often remembered as a cautionary tale about what can happen when ambitious plans aren't properly matched with sound engineering.

#7 Poor Placement Of A Ad On The Bus

#8 A Lot To See Here

#9 Classic Airbnb Chic

A skyscraper that reflects sunlight might sound harmless enough, right, Pandas? Well, London's Walkie-Talkie building proved otherwise. Its curved, glass-covered facade reflected sunlight onto the street below, concentrating the heat so intensely that temperatures reportedly reached around 117°C (242°F) in certain spots. The result? A parked Jaguar had parts of its exterior melted, and a shopkeeper's doormat reportedly caught fire. The building had effectively turned into a giant magnifying glass, creating a problem nobody wanted to deal with on a sunny day. Developers eventually installed sunshades to help disperse the reflected light. It's a striking example of how a design can look impressive on the skyline but create some very uncomfortable surprises at street level.

#10 I'm A Woman, But Even I Can Imagine How Mortifying This Urinal Is:

#11 This Absolutely Chaotic Front Entrance:

#12 This Apartment Sign, Which — Believe It Or Not — Is Actually Supposed To Say 102:

Designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, MIT's Stata Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, looks like a collection of buildings that decided to ignore the rules of geometry. Its slanted walls, unusual angles, and playful shapes certainly make it stand out, but the building's real-world performance proved less impressive. The complex faced complaints involving leaks, drainage issues, cracks, and other construction defects. Ice accumulating on some of its unconventional rooflines also raised safety concerns during winter. In 2007, MIT sued Gehry's firm, alleging design and construction problems. The dispute is a reminder that even the most creative architectural vision needs to account for less glamorous (but essential) things like water, weather, and maintenance.

#13 Caution: Bad Design

#14 This Is The Stupidest Design In Parking Lots. Why

#15 I Genuinely Don't Know What They Were Going For

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is home to several libraries, but the W.E.B. Du Bois Library is particularly hard to miss. According to CNBC, this 26-story structure is the tallest library in the United States. However, soon after it opened in the 1970s, the building began shedding small pieces of brick from its exterior, a problem known as spalling. Naturally, rumors soon followed. One popular urban legend claimed that the architects had forgotten to account for the weight of all the books that would eventually fill the library. The reality is more complicated: the building experienced problems with its brick facade, and concerns were also raised about the ground beneath it. Around 60,000 books reportedly had to be moved during the investigation. Although the story about forgetting to account for books makes for a memorable tale, the actual causes of the damage were more complex than the legend suggests.

#16 Dunno About Having Fire As A Petrol/Gas Station Mascot..

#17 I Don't Think You Meant It Like That

#18 Who Decided That Material Was A Good Idea?

Few architectural mishaps have become quite as famous as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Today, tourists flock to the Italian landmark to admire its tilt and pose for those classic photos pretending to hold it upright. But when construction began in 1173, the builders probably weren't aiming to create one of the world's most recognizable tourist attractions. The tower started leaning while it was still being built, thanks to its shallow foundations and the soft, unstable ground beneath it. As construction continued, builders tried to compensate for the tilt by adjusting the heights of the upper floors, giving the tower its slightly curved appearance. The problem persisted for centuries, and engineers eventually carried out major stabilization work to prevent it from toppling over. The tower has since become an architectural icon, but imagine being one of the builders who first realized that the structure wasn't standing quite as straight as it should!

#19 Look Again

#20 I'm Suddenly Getting Dizzy

#21 Which Toilet Should Each Gender Go In? Found In The St. Dennis Cathedral In Paris.

#22 I See What You Were Going For But

Imagine spending $700 on a fancy juicer, only to discover you could get the same result by squeezing a pouch with your own hands. That was the problem with the Juicero Press, a Wi-Fi-connected countertop machine that promised to make fresh juice from specially designed fruit and vegetable packs. As Architectural Digest India notes, the Silicon Valley startup attracted major investors and raised nearly $120 million, but its product soon became the subject of widespread ridicule. The machine didn't actually process whole fruits and vegetables. Instead, it squeezed proprietary pouches filled with pre-crushed produce—and people discovered that their hands could do the job just as well. The revelation raised an obvious question: why spend so much money on a machine when you could simply squeeze the pouch yourself? Juicero shut down in 2017, around a year and a half after launching. Sometimes, Pandas, the simplest solution really is the best one!

#23 Someone Went Crazy On Microsoft Word

#24 Am I Supposed To Bike Here?

#25 Most Treacherous Bathroom

#26 I Can't Look At It Too Hard

Well, Pandas, these examples show that even projects backed by big budgets, famous architects, or enthusiastic investors can go seriously wrong. And coming back to today’s posts, they’re proof that bad design isn’t just an eyesore—it can also create serious safety hazards, waste money, and turn everyday tasks into a real headache. Which of these design disasters left you scratching your head the most? And have you ever come across a real-life design choice that made you wonder what the creators were thinking? Tell us about it in the comments!

#27 This "Modern" Staircase, Which Would Cause Countless Injuries To Anyone Who's Clumsy (Me):

#28 And These Refrigerator Settings, Which Have Me Permanently Head-Scratching:

#29 This Beautiful Home Sign, Which Could've Used An Edit:

#30 This Elevator, Which Seriously Overestimates People's Ability To Follow Instructions:

#31 This One, Though? No Idea What They Mean Here:

#32 I Understand The Intention Here, But I Can Only Imagine How Many Students Made Fun Of This:

#33 Awful

#34 Person That Design This Needs To Burn In Hell!!!!!!

#35 How Do I Erase This Mistake Of A Design?

#36 2 Locks In A Single Door At Our School... Either Its Bad Design Or The Enterance To The Chamber Of Secrets. We Shall Never Know

#37 Poor Designing

#38 Idk How To Feel About This

#39 Bad Design At Sephora

#40 Design Fail?

#41 Someone On Facebook Was Asking For Shower Curtain Advice

#42

#43 What Did The Icon Mean? Itself, Duh!

#44 Throwing Beach Balls At The Smelly Man

#45 Least Comfortable Armrests Ever

#46 Okay Who Was In Charge Of This?

#47 I'm No Mathematician, But Something Just Ain't Adding Up Here:

#48 I'm Firmly Against Qr-Code-Only Menus, But Especially If They Don't Even Work:

#49 This So-Called "Accessible" Parking Space, Which Has A Pretty Major Design Flaw:

#50 This "Tear Away" Tag, Which Proves You Shouldn't Always Blindly Follow Instructions:

#51 This Simple Sign, Which Probably Seemed Innocent In Theory:

#52 Please, Comment Below And Tell Me What This Car Sticker Was Intending To Say:

#53 I Guess The Person Who Made This Elevator Just Loved The Number 3:

#54 These Box Instructions, Which Aren't Nearly Simple Enough To Prevent Issues:

#55 Melbourne Airport Carpet

#56 Quite A Fail…

#57 Ran Into The Men's Restroom... The Woman's One Is Exactly The Other Way Around

#58 How Many People Have Run Right Into That?

#59 Perfect Place For It, Thanks!

#60 Having A Printed On 'Sticker' That You Can't Remove Promoting A Movie That Came Out 3 Years Ago On A Book.

#61 What Are You Trying To Tell Me?

#62 We Are Absolutely Done

#63 Love The P Verson

#64 Another Unfortunate Line Break

#65 This Eye-Drops Bottle, Which Doesn't Actually Say Anywhere That It's Eye Drops:

#66 This Confusing Gift Bag, Which I'd Definitely Hyperfixate On If I Ever Received It:

#67 And I'd Refuse To Eat Off These Plates, As Someone With A Fear Of Hair In My Food:

#68 This Hand Sanitizer, Which Genuinely Made Me Scream, "What The Heck?!":

#69 This Sign, Which Truly Makes No Sense To My Tiny Brain:

#70 This Bowl Design Is Kinda Bad For Eating This Type Of Cheese That It Commonly Serves

#71 The Longer You Look, The More You Realize

#72 The World's Best Superhero

#73 Which End Of My Car Can I Expect To Be Washed?

#74 I'm Skipping To The Bold Part Sorry

#75 Mixed Messages Crazy Style

#76 Accidents Waiting To Happen

#77 Why Is The Outline Of The Letters Like That?

#78 This Local Bank's Logo Looks Like It Reads "In Debt"

#79 This Impossible Word Search For Kids, That Perhaps Aims To Teach Young People A Lesson In Failure:

#80 This Seemingly Inspirational Banner, Which I Reread 10 Times And Still Don't Understand:

#81 What Was Wrong With The Original Design???

81 Ridiculous Design Choices That Somehow Got Past Every Meeting, Every Check, And Every Approval