How NOT to design a volume control interface

Hilarious UI design ideas for the worst volume control interface in history 😂

Adham Dannaway 5 August 2021
Volume control UI design

Some very clever developers on Reddit have put their creative minds to the test to come up with some crazy ideas for the worst volume control UI design in history.

Obviously, there isn’t anything wrong with the standard volume control slider, it’s been around for ages and does its job well. As per Jakob’s Law, it’s safest to stick with common, tried and tested UI patterns that people are familiar with. If you’re not reinventing the wheel, there’s usually very little risk that there will be usability issues with your UI design. 

Playing it safe might sound a bit boring, but you can save a lot of time and money on user testing by sticking with what people are used to. It will also give you more time to focus on solving more important problems that will make a larger impact.

That being said, I love these crazy ideas on how we might reinvent the volume control to make it super complicated to use. Check them out below and let me know your favourite via Twitter.

Launch to set the volume
Launch to set the volume
Radio buttons volume control
Radio buttons volume control
Jump higher to increase the volume
Jump higher to increase the volume
Shoot the appropriate arrow to increase or decrease the volume
Shoot the appropriate arrow to increase or decrease the volume
Keep tapping to increase the volume
Keep tapping to increase the volume
Wind up that volume
Wind up that volume
Latitude based volume control
Latitude based volume
Pump up that volume
Pump up that volume
Microphone based volume control
Microphone based volume
Control the volume via an electrical circuit
Control the volume via an electrical circuit
Heat up the volume by adding wood to the fire
Heat up the volume by adding wood to the fire
Colour in to increase the volume
Colour in to increase the volume
Beat a dead horse to increase the volume
Beat a dead horse to increase the volume
Play snakes to set the volume
Play snakes to set the volume
Calculate the volume
Calculate the volume
Play pong to set the volume
Play pong to set the volume
Tilt to control the volume
Tilt to control the volume
Roll the dice to set the volume
Roll the dice to set the volume

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did, let me know your favourite via Twitter. You can also find more examples on Reddit.

If you’re looking to improve your UI design skills by applying practical, objective UI design principles, feel free to check out my UI design book and follow me for more tips.

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