Bad design (warm up assignment)

You know those litter bins that have revolving swing lids with tight hinges? It doesn't matter if the lids are placed at the side or top of the bin or whether the bins are made of plastic or metal; they suck either way.

Said user tried to throw light litter without touching the dirty lids with her hands. Because everyone does not want to touch dirty lid with their hands, the lid becomes dirtier with each rubbish that grazes the lid. She pushes the lid hard with the litter. It opens. She tries to push the litter into the bin but cannot because once she tries to let go, the lid immediately shifts back into place, hence pushing the litter back into her hand. She tries to do it fast. The same thing happens. She tries to push deep and fast. This time she succeeds, but gets her wrist rubbing against the dirty bin she has been trying to avoid all this while. Another time, she gets the litter clipped in between the lid and the bin.

The user is frustrated because the design of the dirty bin refuses to let a user dispose of litter without getting in contact with the lids which are filthy from this vicious cycle. Such designs (especially so for the lids placed at the top of the bin) facilitate only litter that are at least a kg heavy so the weight itself pushes the lid. However, litter are usually light, considering how litter usually consists plastic bags, empty bottles etc.

This is a bad design not because users cannot figure out how to use it, but because it does not serve its purpose.

I think the designer intended the revolving lid for hygiene and convenience, so dirt stay in the bin where they belong with no need for a lid that might get lost, but the tight hinges have made this design ironically unhygenic.

Make the lid lightweight and the hinges looser. That way, force can make the lid shift inwards and stay that way for a split second for users to toss the litter in that exacting second. Otherwise, a knob could be situated on the lid so users can push the knob to part the lid instead of having to touch the dirty parts and start the vicious use-litter-to-push-open-lid cycle.