Japan is often seen as the paragon of precision and the epitome of efficiency when it comes to things like automation and miniaturization in the industrial field, and in public life, with its smoothly-running yet complicated public transportation system and convenience stores which are, true to the name, surprisingly convenient in the way they manage to provide so many useful goods and services in a limited space. However, even in Japan, there are times when you simply have to wonder why things were designed the way they were...

Twitter user nono (@nonorses) put together quite a cringe-worthy gallery of suspects on aggregation site Togetter.

Let's take a look...

(In reaction to a sign that says: "turn the faucet") ---"Which one is the faucet? I needed 2 minutes of trial and error..."

It's surprising they lasted all of 2 minutes, actually...

---"Shouldn't the elevator button be on the right? These folks found the perfect spot for the alarm button. The real elevator button is half-hidden by the white column jutting out."

The funny thing is that there's a sign next to the alarm button indicating that the elevator button is on the left!

---"When people talk about 'bad design," I think about the coffee machine at Seven Eleven. To begin with, it's hard for the elderly to understand. Also, foreigners get confused by the fact that L means left and R means right. It looks like this hasn't changed in the new version with cafe-au-lait."

Speaking from experience, we would tend to agree...

---"This is the new bus stop in Kyoto. They made it stylish with a lattice panel and glass ... but I guess people kept bumping into the glass? So that design amounted to nothing."

It's a good indication that your design is flawed if you need to plaster it with warning signs...

We found other examples as well:

(In reaction to a bench with a sign that says: "Please don't put your fingers in the holes in the bench")---"I guess there were many kids who got their fingers stuck...//Odaiba Seaside Park"

And this is a park with a playground...

---"This is real bad design. It's so hard to lay your smartphone on the POS interface at Lawson convenience stores..."

Well, with that bump in the way, obviously...