AAA<\/p>\n
Our 19-year-old microwave died recently. Its replacement has a shiny black control panel. Heating last night\u2019s pasta now takes 10 steps \u2013 Function > Microwave. Cook Time > 1, 2, 0. Power Level > 8. Confirm. Start! \u2013 to do what my mum\u2019s turn-dial Panasonic did in 1982 with a single flick of the wrist.<\/p>\n
Writer Cory Doctorow<\/a> coined the term \u201censhittification\u201d to describe the degradation of digital platforms when profit is put ahead of usability. But look around your kitchen, home, office or car, and you\u2019ll realise the internet isn\u2019t the only place where things are getting worse. We are living through the shittification of real, physical things; something I call UnDesign.<\/p>\n UnDesign is the TV remote that is so symmetrical you don\u2019t know which way it points, or so small I\u2019ve forever lost two between my sofa cushions. It\u2019s the oven with dozens of additional features if only you knew how to find them. It\u2019s those new headphones that sound amazing \u2026 if only you could remember the right gesture for volume. While many are high-tech, UnDesigned products can also be the power tool that burns out when building a deck, or a plastic ladle that goes floppy when serving pumpkin soup.<\/p>\n Not long ago, manufacturers and designers were bound by an implicit contract: products should work. Design meant solving human problems and making life simpler, safer and more intuitive. As an industrial designer, I put the user\u2019s needs first, whether it\u2019s a KeepCup or a mass spectrometer. While this approach is less flashy, the result is a product that does what it promises.<\/p>\n In critical industries, this isn\u2019t a feel-good philosophy; it\u2019s a legal requirement. Medical device manufacturers must demonstrate that their products can be used as intended. That means proving an emergency doctor can operate the defibrillator, or an elderly woman can measure her blood glucose at home without fatal errors. User-centred design requires rigorous observation, real-world testing and genuine empathy.<\/p>\n Yet today, designing something has increasingly come to mean \u201cfit for sale\u201d, rather than \u201cfit for purpose\u201d.<\/p>\n Perhaps UnDesign has flourished because products are not bought in shops \u2013 they\u2019re recommended by influencers, bought online, and are then ridiculously hard to return. Brands don\u2019t care about making products that work well, they just need new models to pop on Instagram, or be a few cents cheaper to manufacture.<\/p>\n Not long ago most things in a car could be done while keeping your eyes on the road. But over the past decade, car manufacturers have been systematically replacing physical buttons, dials and tactile switches with glass touchscreens and touch controls. Now, just like our new microwave, cars screens demand our attention and active cognitive effort. For example, Tesla<\/a> \u2013 and many other car manufacturers \u2013 locate demister functions on a central touchscreen.<\/p>\n On smartphones and tablets, touchscreens are brilliant. But their infinite adaptability is precisely why they don\u2019t work where a tactile and dedicated control is needed.<\/p>\n For example, drivers needing to clear a foggy windscreen at 100km\/h on a dark, rain-soaked and potholed highway can\u2019t afford to work through a menu on a screen an arm-length\u2019s away. Unlike a glass screen, physical controls give us the certainty that this stalk here will perform this exact function. Every time. They give orientation and confirmation: your hand feels the knob\u2019s degree of rotation, and receives a satisfying \u201cclick\u201d that confirms your input.<\/p>\n So why does UnDesign happen? Follow the money. In a recent interview, Ferrari\u2019s chief executive Benedetto Vigna let slip<\/a> that touch-sensitive digital systems are 50 per cent cheaper to manufacture than mechanical controls. Meanwhile, we consumers have lapped up the idea \u2013 started by Tesla and now standard on any EV \u2013 that huge touchscreens and an absence of pesky buttons meant \u201cthe future\u201d. When manufacturers can make products for less while selling them for more, why wouldn\u2019t they?<\/p>\n Fortunately, in some areas, the tide is starting to shift.<\/p>\n After a storm of complaints, Volkswagen is reversing course after being forced to admit<\/a> removing physical buttons from its steering wheels and dashboards was a mistake.<\/p>\n Safety bodies are also stepping in. Europe\u2019s auto assessor is revising its ratings<\/a> to penalise new vehicles that lack physical controls for critical functions such as indicators, hazards and wipers. China has gone further, mandating mechanical door handles so rescuers aren\u2019t blocked by electronics<\/a> after a crash.<\/p>\n Genuine design should simplify our lives and lower our mental load. Some of us even try to design products that bring joy. When a brand includes an instruction booklet the size of a raffle ticket, or replaces sturdy with slick, it shows how little it really values you. If we buy UnDesigned shit, manufacturers will continue producing it.<\/p>\n Steve Martinuzzo is the managing partner of Cobalt Design, and a member of the Design Institute of Australia\u2019s Hall of Fame. <\/p>\n The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Many](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fbbacababa220a56dc2a7f716b5bc5237e632673.jpeg\")
Many cars have replaced buttons and dials with large touchscreens that are impossible to use safely while you\u2019re driving. Lucid Motors <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3e013acbc4b9b4d981b85794e3b53ad6d488e2ef.jpeg\")
A passenger touches a screen inside a Hyundai Avante sedan at a car show in Busan, South Korea, in June.Bloomberg<\/p>\n![\"Microwaves](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1132fb5936747f4528814e937308d716fb60bdf5.jpeg\")
Microwaves used to be simple and easy to use. Now, much of that convenience has been lost. <\/p>\n
![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/d60f91d899278df8ffc62cc4be5fa73ae5a153bdeaa182429e27fe3df25f595a.png\")