Household
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Background: When arranging furniture in a house, people generally tend to just put tall furniture (bookshelves, wardrobes, etc…) against a wall and just sort of hope that none of it falls over. Normally, this is a reasonable assumption, except during rare situations such as earthquakes or small children climbing up a bookshelf like a ladder.…
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Background: Small children are generally not known for strict adherence to hygiene or to biosafety protocols, and may have a not-fully-calibrated immune system. As a result, when dozens of children are co-mingled at a daycare, it’s highly likely that they’ll be constantly bringing diseases back to their own homes, causing their parents / siblings /…
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Background: When disaster strikes, it’s useful to have a set of easily-accessible emergency supplies that can be brought by a person fleeing danger. This is the concept of a “go” bag: a backpack full of common supplies that a person might need if they had to temporarily abandon their home due to a natural disaster.…
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Background: People frequently leave notes around the house, either as reminders to themselves or as reminders to family members or roommates. For example: “Remember to push the fridge door shut, or it stays open!” or “Remember to lock the top lock when you leave the house!“ The Issue: These reminders are all fine and good,…
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Background: One traditional type of electric toaster is a rectangular enclosure with slots at the top for two slices of bread (Figure 1). Once the bread is sufficiently toasted, the slices of toast pop out of the toaster, visually making it obvious that the toast is ready. The Issue: Strangely, no other appliances operate in…
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The Issue: One counterintuitive phenomenon is that people sometimes get depressed during the holidays when they realize that their real family and friends don’t match the idealized holiday expectations that have been set by TV and movies. Proposal: Since TV and movies present a “fake” life that can’t possibly be achieved in reality, the solution…
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Background: Frequently, residential houses have areas that are dangerous in some way: perhaps a railing that is a little wobbly (but will probably stay attached), a garage door that is missing the “don’t crush a person” electric eye sensor, or a bookshelf with a three-hundred-pound vase that is perilously perched on the top shelf. The…
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Background: Some older home have “simple” built-in drawers that are just a wooden box that slides on some wooden rails (instead of metal drawer slides). These drawers are fine for rarely-accessed items, but can be quite annoying in frequently-used situations (such as kitchen utensil drawers). The Issue: Since these drawers typically don’t have any sort…
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The Issue: Sometimes, it feels cold in a house, but when you go to check the thermostat, you see that it’s already something like 72° F (22° C). That’s already plenty warm, so you’d feel guilty about turning on the heat! As a result, you must shamefully put on a sweater instead. But what if you COULD…
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Background: An “au pair” is a sort of “study abroad” nanny: the idea is that an approximately-college-aged individual will travel to a foreign country to help a host family take care of their children (Figure 1). Conceptually, the idea is that it provides a job and opportunity to see a foreign country (benefitting the au…
WorstPlans: updated every Monday since July 2014! 