Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Microwaves
Raised as a usability problem by 133 people on Hacker News over 19 years (2008–2026), in 82 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Beeper keeps sounding for minutes and can't be silenced easilyUnreviewed
20082026- Turning off the beep needs an arcane button combo found only in the manual2024-05-06
- Beeper keeps sounding for minutes after cooking and can't be easily silenced2022-08-07
- Beeps six times loudly even after the door is opened, and every key press beeps2022-02-01
Dial makes exact times hard to set due to accelerationUnreviewed
20082026- Setting the time requires pressing +30s repeatedly or typing digits instead of dialing2024-07-10
- Dial steps are missed and change size, so reaching exact times needs careful counting2023-07-16
- Controls jump erratically when adjusting time; must push dial inward to avoid it2021-05-31
Touchscreen controls take longer to use than simple dialsUnreviewed
20082026- Touch-sensitive door button needs a clean finger and responds with lag2026-09-14
- Touch buttons lag and each action takes a second to register2021-05-01
- Touchscreen barely responds, needing many long presses; selection state ambiguous2019-08-17
Date and time must be reset after power outage before cookingUnreviewed
20082026- Oven forgets the time when unplugged, blocking scheduled cooking2022-03-18
- Power cutoff resets the clock, and cook times must be typed to the exact second2010-09-03
- Must reset the date and time after a power outage before cooking2010-09-03
Easy to mistype cooking time, e.g. 50 minutes instead of 5Unreviewed
20082026- Power percentage and time settings make the cooking-time relationship confusing and counterintuitive2024-10-15
- Users must guess reheat times for different foods, easy to get wrong2020-11-15
- Easy to mistype cooking time, e.g. 50 minutes instead of 5, with serious consequences2013-07-12
Flat keypad with no tactile feedback is hard for blind usersUnreviewed
20082026- Flat keypad with no tactile feedback is hard for blind users2023-07-16
- Digital keypad buttons are small targets you can't feel, unlike a turnable dial2020-04-01
- Non-tactile capacitive buttons are nearly impossible for a visually impaired user to operate2018-10-06
Can't figure out how to operate the microwaveUnreviewed
20082026- Engineers struggled to work out how to operate the new microwave2024-09-11
- Finding how to operate the microwave needed digging through the manual2018-01-07
- Can't figure out how to operate the microwave, spent 10 minutes trying2008-03-20
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Touch-sensitive door button needs a clean finger and responds with lag2026-09-14
- Setting microwave power output takes too many button presses2026-08-09
- Repetitive ding is useless noise that gives no new information2026-07-24
- Keypad forces setting power level and start button is not obvious2026-06-24
- No start button, can't adjust timer after starting, and a fan that keeps running after stopping.2026-04-03
- Microwave interfaces are often bad; dials are easy to mess up and buttons need extra presses2026-02-23
- No loading indicator; videos take seconds to load with no feedback2026-01-14
- Apartment microwave makes too much noise and sounds cannot be turned off2025-08-04
- Hard to find and press the buttons; start button doubles as +30 seconds2025-05-19
- Low-vision and blind users find modern appliance interfaces extremely difficult or impossible to operate2025-04-25
- Keypad controls are less convenient than the original knob layout for starting heating2025-04-21
- Every microwave uses a different time-entry system and cluttered extra buttons2025-01-24
- Touch screen interface beeps on every press and when done, annoying2024-10-17
- Most microwave control panels are badly designed and harder to use than a knob2024-10-17
- Pressure-sensitive buttons give no feedback, so users can't tell how hard to press2024-10-17
- Power percentage and time settings make the cooking-time relationship confusing and counterintuitive2024-10-15
- Confusing buttons labelled 'Kids Meals', 'Healthy Cooking' or 'Snack' with unclear meaning2024-10-15
- Modern microwaves differ; unclear whether digits start timer or how to enter time2024-10-15
- Jog knob controls are awkward to use, though a design compromise2024-10-15
- Dark grey on black keypad legends are hard to read2024-10-15
- Setting full power for a minute on most microwaves is a constant fight2024-10-15
- Engineers struggled to work out how to operate the new microwave2024-09-11
- Display no longer lights up, so user can't read it2024-09-11
- Setting the time requires pressing +30s repeatedly or typing digits instead of dialing2024-07-10
- Older microwaves have confusing buttons like "chicken" and "potato" that nobody can use2024-05-19
- Can't find a quick-start button; must work out power percent and time format2024-05-19
- Worn-out keypad is getting harder to use every day2024-05-19
- Microwave keypad interfaces are a frustrating, poorly designed way to set power and time2024-05-06
- Turning off the beep needs an arcane button combo found only in the manual2024-05-06
- Dial and multi-function start buttons are confusing to set cooking time and power2024-04-03
- Unclear what the dial's letters, dot and numbers mean; no clear markings2024-03-31
- Setting a simple 30-second cook needs many dial turns and clicks, hard to figure out2024-03-31
- Guests fail to use it because heating starts automatically after a delay with no start button2023-12-19
- Knob does nothing until user presses a mode button first, unintuitive2023-12-18
- Fiddling with the controls to enter a few seconds takes longer than the cooking2023-10-27
- Microwave won't work until clock is set, and AM/PM can't be seen after setting2023-10-26
- Microwave buttons and beeping behave annoyingly, and users can't learn this before buying2023-10-26
- Buttons lack tactile feedback, timer setting is confusing, starting and cancelling need many presses2023-10-26
- Setting the time with the knob then needing a separate start button is an extra, senseless step2023-10-26
- Number pad buttons are unclear and layouts differ, so users forget which is which2023-09-01
- Hard for vision-impaired users to tell what controls do or current power level2023-07-16
- Twiddling dials to select functions is error-prone and cumbersome2023-07-16
- Dial steps are missed and change size, so reaching exact times needs careful counting2023-07-16
- Flat keypad with no tactile feedback is hard for blind users2023-07-16
- Blind users accidentally activate buttons while feeling for labels; can't reliably set values2023-07-16
- Blind user cannot locate flat buttons without accidentally pressing wrong ones2023-04-27
- Button-based microwave controls are hard to use for setting timer and power level2023-04-01
- Microwave keeps running for a moment after the door is closed2023-02-08
- Cancel/off button does nothing when used as timer; user must find a separate hidden timer-cancel button2023-01-20
- Can't type in seconds, must use fixed 60-second preset2023-01-16