Made by Monkeys

Sometimes, humor can be an effective way of making a point about bad design choices. Products which fail — often spectacularly — due to poor design can still lead to better engineering practices, if they inspire a discussion about what went wrong and how to fix it.

Design News’ “Made by Monkeys” column is a good read, and is often informative. It’s a good exercise in engineering ethics to read through the articles and conclude what made each particular design “Made by Monkeys.” Often, cost is the driving factor: a few cents saved by cutting corners here and there doesn’t keep the design from working immediately, but causes problems down the road.

Here are a few especially good articles that I’ve come across:

Enjoy — and remember, sometimes the monkeys have valuable lessons to teach!

 

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