Rethinking the Everyday 

The project started with two hands-on workshop sessions and a challenge to explore and reimagine objects from everyday life. Each Voice Citizen Designer chose an item that wasn’t working for them — something annoying, inaccessible, or just poorly thought through — and explored how it could be redesigned or ‘hacked’ to serve their needs better. 

What emerged wasn’t just a list of grievances, but a series of playful, provocative and genuinely thoughtful ideas. One participant reimagined the humble toothbrush, adding a ‘collar’ to catch stray toothpaste before it drips. Another transformed a desk lamp into a mood-responsive light that changes atmosphere as your energy shifts. The idea wasn’t perfection — it was personalisation. What would it mean if our homes and objects truly reflected who we are and how we live? 

With support from Create Education and Newcastle University School of Engineering Makerspace, these ideas were taken from drawings and rough prototypes into full 3D models. The result? A tangible collection of newly imagined objects that confront frustration — and redesign it. 

Frustration Is a Design Problem 

Frustration with everyday objects isn’t just a minor nuisance. It’s a design failure. And, for many, it’s a daily reminder that the world isn’t built with their needs in mind. 

This truth came into sharp focus when considering other research. For instance, in 2022, a survey by U3A asked over 2,000 people aged 55–104 which household items they found most frustrating. Packaging came out on top — particularly food packaging, from clingfilm to ring pulls to those impossible peel-back labels. Duvet covers, high cupboards, remote controls, vacuum cleaners, and fiddly keys were also cited as repeat offenders. What stood out wasn’t just the list of items, but the emotional toll. These everyday annoyances can chip away at our independence, making routine tasks feel harder than they should. And more dangerously, they feed into a narrative that ageing equals decline. As Professor Becca Levy’s research has shown, negative age beliefs can become self-fulfilling—affecting memory, mobility, and even lifespan. 

So, what happens when we stop blaming ourselves — and start redesigning the object? 

Design Is a Dialogue 

In the Infuriating Objects workshops, this question drove everything. Participants weren’t passive consumers of design — they were active problem-solvers, reimagining how objects could better support their routines, bodies, and values. 

One key insight? People already modify objects all the time — whether it’s wrapping a tea towel around a stiff jar lid or putting stickers on identical remotes to tell them apart. These improvisations aren’t failures—they’re proof that the design didn’t fit the user to begin with. 

Design should be adaptable, ergonomic, intuitive. It should respond to the lived realities of its users—not expect them to bend to its will. That belief is at the heart of Mission Possible. And it’s why the prototypes created — whether playful or practical — carry the deeper message that good design starts with listening.

From Exhibition to Movement 

The Infuriating Objects! exhibition launched in early 2025 as a family-friendly, interactive showcase of these ideas, bringing together design, storytelling, and hands-on creativity. Visitors could explore the final prototypes, hear the stories behind them, and even share their own object frustrations. 

And the journey isn’t over. 

The exhibition is now set to travel to new venues soon, expanding its reach and inviting more communities to get involved. Wherever it lands next, it will continue to ask the same essential question: What’s bothering you—and how could we make it better? 

Stay tuned for updates on where the Infuriating Objects exhibition is heading next.