misceng

UK

retired

Peter Fred is right. I recall an airline chief complaining about bad designs of interior fittings being repeated every seven to ten years. The explanation suggested is that the draughtsman made the mistake and learned from it so on promotion to section leader he stopped others making the mistake then further promotion took himaway from ordinary draughtsmen who then invented the mistake anew.

As an engineer I also think that design (ie shape and appearance) is too often substituted for proper engineering. A clever mechanism for opening the top of an electric kettle is over elaborate and as I found to my cost depended on a thin piece of plastic which breaks and is irreplacable. With less plastic properly arranged a cheaper and more robust solution could have been devised to last the whole life of the kettle. There are many more examples in everyday life. I am sure most people have experience of this problem.