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Worst Design Ever? Plastic Clamshell Packaging
Hugh Pickens writes "Rebecca Rosen writes that if you've recently opened up — or, more specifically, tried to open up — a CFL light bulb, you can sympathize with the question posted on Quora last year, 'What is the worst piece of design ever done?' The site's users have given resounding support to one answer: plastic clamshell packaging. 'Design should help solve problems' — clamshells are supposed to make it harder to steal small products and easier for employees to arrange on display — but this packaging, says Anita Schillhorn, makes new ones, such as time wasted, frustration, and the little nicks and scrapes people incur as they just try to get their damn lightbulb out. The problem is so pervasive there is even a Wikipedia page devoted to 'wrap rage,' 'the common name for heightened levels of anger and frustration resulting from the inability to open hard-to-remove packaging.' Amazon and Wal-Mart are prodding more manufacturers to change their packaging to cut waste. 'We've gotten e-mails from customers who've purchased scissors in a clamshell, which would require another pair of scissors to open the package,' says Nadia Shouraboura, Amazon's vice president of global fulfillment. Other worthy answers to the Quora question include the interfaces on most microwaves, TV remotes, New York City's parking signs, and pull-handles on push-only doors, but none gained even close to the level of popular repudiation that clamshells received."
I think everyone hates those offal things; I know I do. But the worst design? Hardly. Clamshell packaging never killed anybody.
Ever drive a car from the late '80s-early '90s? Rather than a knob, the volume control was buttons! Unlike earlier and modern car radios, you couldn't change the volume without taking your eyes off the road!
Worse, your ac/heat controls used to have knobs, too. You could change the temp without taking your eyes off the road. Now they have BUTTONS! God damn it, listen up, idiot designers, buttons don't belong on a car's dash! If you need buttons, put them on the steering wheel like the radio controls on my car. That has the added benefit of not letting the fatassed passenger turn the AC all the way up and freezing me out.
Similarly, what idiot decided to put the winshield wiper on the turn signal? Probably one of the many idiots that never use their turn signals. Not as bad as clamshell packaging or buttons on a car's dash, but still frustrating and stupid.
Free Martian Whores!
That's nothing.
Since everyone's caught up in the touchscreen crazy, it's moving towards being controlled via tocuhscreen -- where you can't even feel if there's a button being pressed!
On the other hand, they're usually made from a kind of plastic that recyclers don't take. If we have to continue to put up with clamshells, at least they should use a #1-#6 plastic.
Steve Magruder, Metro Foodist
You'd think they could put up a photograph of their packaging, rather than some cheesy stock "people shaking hands" photo.
Why they insist on hermetically sealing them, though, that is baffling to me.
I believe it is that way for as a theft deterrent. The harder it is to open the harder it is to open in the aisle in the store and not get caught.
That's what you would think. But I used to work for a store apprehending shoplifters in my younger years. The only people who are frustrated by this type of packaging are honest consumers and possibly teenage thieves. But teenagers typically would break the product when trying to remove it and toss it back, pretty much rendering the intent of the packaging useless as you can't sell broken merchandise. It's truly unbelievable how fast a heroin addict can circumvent anti-theft packaging.
These clam-shell packages are useful for brick-and-mortar stores trying to prevent theft, however these same packages offer no benefit for online retailers. I understand that it's difficult for a company to set up different packaging lines based on whether their product is going to an online retailer or a brick-and-mortar retailer, but that's what I'd like to see happen nonetheless.
The packaging protected goods from the chisel. Not that I'm a fan of overpackaging, but the protection goes both ways. Imagine the damage a loose chisel could do, especially if it wormed its way out of a pallet 30' up.
Man, you really need that seminar!
>> I use the Walmart Rental store.
This is ok because (check all that apply):
It's a big company.
WalMart is evil.
It doesn't hurt individuals at all, just a company.
It doesn't hurt any one individual very much.
It doesn't hurt WalMart, it hurts their suppliers.
Nobody offers stud-finder rentals.
I'm helping the environment by recycling tools.
There are more important moral issues in the world.
Fuck everybody else, I look out for only me.