[_jstreet]

I find it interesting that most of the comments are about physical products.

The 'best design' is often something that's so frictionless and easy to use that it's invisible in day-to-day use. Everyday infrastructure like steps are something that's noticeable when they're off (e.g. spaced too far apart, or too steep); most are designed well.

It's easy to find things that are designed poorly. But much less tangible to find a 'best designed' item.

[ISL]

Agreed. It's real tempting to answer, "indoor plumbing". It's really nice to flip a lever and get clean, safe water. It's real good not to need to stroll to the outhouse, too.

[muzani]

Coming from a developing country, I was very impressed that you could get drinking water straight from the tap in some countries. My wife, a civil engineer, couldn't believe it either. There's just so much complexity involved in it, including storage, which can have rats and rust.

Normally we just filter the stuff between the tap and cup. And as a kid, we had to boil and store it, and just learned to tolerate the metallic/dirt taste at times. This was when soda peaked.

[mortenjorck]

> This was when soda peaked.

Somehow I never put the international explosion of Coke and Pepsi in this context. The things late-20th century Americans took for granted!

[noduerme]

A local I knew in Mexico told me that the water in his town was safe to drink, and that the theory of unsafe tap water was a disinformation campaign by gringos/Coca-Cola. Spoiler: Was not safe to drink the water.

[poglet]

Mostly unrelated but I would like to be able to set the temperate and water pressure for my shower so I can just enter and press a single button. This would also be great for those showers where you can never get the water temperature or pressure right so you have to keep adjusting it.

I would also like to run a bath by doing the same thing, and having the water stop when it's at the right level. Maybe there could be a heating element that keeps the water at the right temperature so you don't have to occasionally top it up with hot water.

I'm sure this already exists but I've never seen it anywhere.

[jerkstate]

Thermal regulating shower/bath faucets are relatively common: https://www.deltafaucet.com/design-innovation/innovations/sh...

I have one in my master shower and it's fantastic. Of course, the water starts out cold (because the water in the hot water pipes are cold) but once it's up to temperature, it's very consistent, even if you have a toilet flush in your house which would reduce the pressure of cold.

[quadrifoliate]

> Of course, the water starts out cold (because the water in the hot water pipes are cold)

No, this should be considered a failure condition for a constant temperature shower. I don't care how they do it, just bleed the cold water into a separate pipe off to the side or something.

We have sent people into space, I want actual uniform temperature water.

[jerkstate]

ah, you want this, which also exists: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2013/03/07/hot-water-circul...

the way I do it is just turn the shower on about 30 seconds before I get in, which works the same with half the piping and less energy loss due to circulating hot water (but some water loss)

[z2]

I've seen a few apartments in Asia have small electric water heaters right before the faucet. They provide instant hot water until the main boiler's hot water arrives.

[akjssdk]

This is fairly common in newish kitchens in the Netherlands too, especially if the kitchen is far away from the boiler. Sometimes even with a boiling water tap, so you don't even need a kettle anymore.

[kortilla]

A toilet flush should either:

- not drop the pressure of the cold water at all

- drop both the hot and the cold equally (due to house input being limited)

The hot water is fed by the same input pressure as the cold, so they are the same pressure system. A temperature drop on a toilet flush is a pretty big fuckup by the plumber in the bathroom.

[theaeolist]

Everything about fancy hotel bathrooms is a usability nightmare. Sometimes there are two showers (hand-held and ceiling-mounted) operated by a single lever which sets temperature, pressure, and which of the two showers is active. The risk of giving yourself a too hot or too cold burst is significant. I usually cower into a corner while sloooooowly messing with that lever.

For an extra bonus: You usually have three identical looking small bottles with 'shampoo', 'conditioner', and 'shower gel' only distinguished by a tiny label, something like black-on-brown or yellow-on-white. Good luck if you are wearing glasses.

[rgreasons]

Stayed at a hotel with a faucet with some of the features you described - button-push and straightforward temperature control - and it was one of the best shower experiences I’ve ever had. Would be putting one of these in my own master bathroom if it wasn’t so expensive.

https://www.hansgrohe-usa.com/articledetail-showerselect-the...

[maccard]

Thermostatic mixer showers are very common (in the UK at least) and are very affordable (sub $100) and as reliable as your hot water supply. My understanding is that water pressure is much harder to control for; there's so many variables that you just can't do anything about, and without installing a giant tank and a pump if your pressure is low it's always going to be low.

[dionidium]

> The 'best design' is often something that's so frictionless and easy to use that it's invisible in day-to-day use

OK, here's something I use every day that's reliable and clever and works almost as if by magic, even though nobody appreciates it: a three-way light switch. Simple, elegant, interesting -- and nobody notices or cares.

[roeles]

I think you're absolutely right. Some obvious things come to mind: electricity, water as mentioned.

Here in NL I think the roads are particularly well-designed. We have well-designed junctions that prevent accidents in a very passive way (good visibility, the ability to make eye contact with crossing traffic).

[balaji1]

You are right, people are probably missing a lot of things in plain-sight. Most of the comments are about some esoteric product or software - so nothing to add to the shopping list :)

Only recognize Google apps and Apple hardware from the other comments - they are great.