• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock

3

Meet the 2 men putting New York's $300 billion pension fund in play for the first time in 20 years

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock

3

Meet the 2 men putting New York's $300 billion pension fund in play for the first time in 20 years
Brainstorm Design

Why Bad Design Is Important

By
TF Chan
TF Chan
and
Wallpaper
Wallpaper
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
TF Chan
TF Chan
and
Wallpaper
Wallpaper
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 6, 2019, 4:30 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

“We tend to ignore bad design at events like this, and focus on successes,” said Alice Rawsthorn after taking the stage at the Fortune and Wallpaper Brainstorm Design conference for the second year in a row.

The design critic and author of Design as an Attitude returned “to talk about the flops and failures, which are unfortunately abundant in our lives.” Bad design, she pointed out, “has just as much, if not more importance than the good variety, and it is expensive in terms of time, emotion, effort and energy to remedy.”

In Rawsthorn’s analysis, there are seven kinds of bad design, which should serve as cautionary warnings. She begins with an image of a broken down “Boris bus” being trawled off a London street—her example of a useless design. Launched with great aplomb in 2012, the bus was intended as a fuel-efficient reinvention of the post-war era Routemaster, but has since been beset with problems.

“It looks rather good, thanks to Heatherwick Studio who designed the interior and bodywork,” she remarked, “but the engineering was lousy. It broke down frequently. The batteries would fail so it had to run on diesel. And it was prone to overheating, so much so that passengers have nicknamed it the ‘Roastmaster.'”

Moving on to the category of pointless design, Rawsthorn brought up the new Nokia 9 smartphone, which boasts five cameras—an unnecessary number, even if the phone can fulfill its function efficiently.

Irresponsible design, meanwhile, is the result of designers not thinking rigorously enough about consequences. “There are places like Agbogbloshie dump, outside Accra, Ghana, where thousands of computers, phones and tablets fail to decompose, and poison the ground for decades to come.” Black rubber-coated cables are a particularly damaging design choice, she said: ‘Black is invisible to the optical sensors that control recycling plants, so it gets automatically sent to landfill. Designers need to take more time and trouble to ensure products can be disposed of and recycled responsibly.”

Rawsthorn proceeded to call out a series of large corporations for their design blunders. She cited Adidas, whose Jabulani football likely skewed the results of the 2010 World Cup because its behavior fluctuated with altitude (“unreliable design”). She brought up IBM, who used the condescending slogan “hack a hair dryer” for its social media campaign to address the dearth of women in technology. She mentioned Mattel, which launched a Frida Kahlo Barbie doll for International Women’s Day that failed to capture disabilities the artist overcame, the unibrow that she wore in defiance of mainstream beauty standards, and the Tehuana dresses she proudly donned (all examples of good intentions gone wrong). She also expressed ire at two recent fashion abominations—a sweater that seemed to reinforce the stereotype of blackface, and a hoodie featuring a noose around the neck and calling to mind racist lynchings.

“These go in the ‘What were they thinking?’ category,” she quipped.

Rawsthorn called her final, most important category “dangerous design.” Crash test dummies, for instance, are modeled on a typical male body—and therefore are primarily responsible for women being 40% likelier to be injured in road accidents.

“But of course, the kind of danger that bad design creates is changing all the time, and now escalating,” she continued. “One of the principal catalysts is A.I. technology, whose design flaws can be catastrophic. The Algorithmic Justice League has sounded alarm about surveillance software that is more accurate at identifying white males. Not women or people of color, who as a result are more likely to be deemed potential criminals or terrorists, or have our immigration status brought into question. It can cause massive pain, damage and disruption.”

“And so I believe it’s absolutely urgent that we get to grips with bad design,” Rawsthorn concluded. “And the more thoroughly and the sooner, the better.”

For more coverage of Fortune’s Brainstorm Design conference, click here.

About the Authors
By TF Chan
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Wallpaper
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

MSCI delays Indonesia’s market status review until November
AsiaIndonesia
MSCI delays Indonesia’s market status review until November
By Prima Wirayani, Bernadette Toh and BloombergJune 23, 2026
4 hours ago
sb
Commentaryclimate change
The climate policy triangle: why leaders can no longer choose between growth, security and sustainability
By Sebastian BuckupJune 23, 2026
9 hours ago
Amazon Prime Day isn’t a midsummer shopping event anymore. Here’s what changed in 2026
RetailAmazon
Amazon Prime Day isn’t a midsummer shopping event anymore. Here’s what changed in 2026
By Vidhi Choudhary and Retail BrewJune 23, 2026
10 hours ago
The hidden cost of your AI rollout: burning out the high performers running it
Workplace Cultureburnout
The hidden cost of your AI rollout: burning out the high performers running it
By Mikaela Cohen and HR BrewJune 23, 2026
10 hours ago
Tom and Diane Peterman pose outside their home at Black Lake on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Grant Township, Mich.
EnvironmentNatural disasters
FEMA told these families they weren’t in a flood zone. Then ice came through the windows
By Tammy Webber, M.K. Wildeman and The Associated PressJune 23, 2026
10 hours ago
Olympic rings at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on February 03, 2026 in Tesero, Italy.
North AmericaSports
After the Knicks and World Cup, New York is ready for another challenge: the Olympics
By The Associated PressJune 23, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
19 hours ago
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Banking
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
By Jim EdwardsJune 23, 2026
21 hours ago
Meet the 2 men putting New York's $300 billion pension fund in play for the first time in 20 years
Investing
Meet the 2 men putting New York's $300 billion pension fund in play for the first time in 20 years
By Nick LichtenbergJune 22, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 23, 2026
18 hours ago
Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'
Success
Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'
By Sydney LakeJune 21, 2026
3 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 22, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 22, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 22, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.