From broken buttons to flawed forms to annoying navigation patterns, poor design is all around us. While it can sometimes be hilarious, it can also be very serious.

The funny thing about great design is that, to the rest of the non-design world, it goes unnoticed. 

Lesson 1: Typography should not be an afterthought

The problem with these pesky doors is that the design leads your intuition astray. Either you don’t know how to open the door at all or however you assume the door should be opened should really be the opposite.

This event was a big shock to the world in how designing to prevent human error is of the utmost importance. Even on little things like online purchases, a small human error can cause big problems for payments and your business. Like they say, a good defense is the best offense.

Lesson 2: Safeguard against human error

Especially for web design, your web UI is extremely important. Just because it’s beautifully designed doesn’t mean anybody will know where to find the information they need on the site. You need to design it in a way that helps them know what to do next.

The solution to “checking your work” is simpler than you might think: do some usability testing and get some feedback from someone in your target audience.