18 Clever Designs That Are Solving Life's Tiny Problems

Searching for a way to not get cheese puff dust all over your hand after sticking your whole arm into the bag? There's a clever design for that.

What about a way to charge your phone while you're on the go and don't have access to a portable charger? Yup, a brilliant design exists for that dilemma too.

In fact, there are an infinite amount of genius ideas that make life's little predicaments seem like not so much of a problem at all, and we've shared some of the best ones below.

A shopping cart complete with a store map.

Not sure where the ice cream section is in that new grocery shop you just popped into? Don't spend what feels like an entirety wandering down every single aisle until you find it.

Instead, with this genius shopping cart equipped with a store map, you'd be able to simply look down at your trolly and find the exact section you're searching for.

And heck, we'll say it — this clever design seriously needs to make its way to North America.

The super easy way to align a onesie's snap buttons.

"The middle snap on my baby's onesie is a different color to help align the buttons," says the Reddit user who shared this pic.

Babies may be tiny, but the number of buttons on their clothing seems to always suggest otherwise. That's why we're totally digging this color-coded concept that makes dressings (and later undressing when an inevitable diaper change is needed) so effortlessly easy.

The clever design is so convenient for both parties; parent and infant!

Instant oatmeal with a built-in measuring cup.

When this Reddit user began eating instant oatmeal they realized that they didn't have to dirty a measuring cup when pouring in their choice of water or milk.

Instead, the package of oatmeal is labeled with a 1/2 cup fill line that allows you to use the pack as a way to add the liquid to your bowl of oats.

It's so clever and alleviates the need to wash one more dish.

A dry-erase desk that you can write on and then wipe right off.

Imagine this: you're sitting at your work desk when all of a sudden an insanely brilliant ideas pop into your brain. You ransack your workspace looking for a way to jot down the concept, but your search yields only a pen and your mental reminder that you were supposed to pick up more sticky notes.

Now, if you had this clever dry-erase desktop that allows you to write down a note and then wipe it away, you probably wouldn't have lost your genius idea to the abyss of all your unremembered plans.

Self-cleaning escalator handrail that kills germs and viruses.

This escalator handrail cleaning system that effortlessly wicks away germs won't be disappearing, even after the coronavirus is long behind us.

According to GHI Architectural Solutions, a company that produces a similar handrail cleaning system to the one in the picture, the sanitation device uses UVC light to disinfect the revolving surface.

And if that's not impressive enough, the system is believed to kill 99.99% of surface germs on an escalator handrail. What a simple and truly effective way of keeping people safe!

Solar-powered patio umbrellas that offer convenient cellphone charging.

Picture that you're at a restaurant when your phone buzzes beside you, alerting that your battery has almost run out of juice.

In normal circumstances, you might have begun to panic at the thought of not having your phone powered on and ready by your side.

But this restaurant completely changes the game. Their outdoor patio features solar-powered umbrellas that are equipped with USB slots for phone charging.

And if that's not absolutely genius, we seriously don't know what is!

The clever park bench that's built onto a sliding track.

Long gone are the days of moving around a park as the sun moves across the sky to constantly be under the shade.

This park devised the perfect solution — a wooden bench that's installed on a sliding track.

With this clever invention, you won't have to get up and search for the closest shaded spot. Instead, simply slide across the rail until you're covered by the protection of a tree. How insanely clever!

These eco-freindly pencils that literally grow into a plant.

"I possibly found the best ever pencils. After using them you can plant them in the soil and then a sapling will grow from the green bottom!" writes Redditor rasalghularz.

And we have to agree, they do sound like the best pencils ever! Made from 100 percent recycled newspaper, these pencils feature a capsule at the bottom that houses tomato, coriander, chili, mustard, or fenugreek seeds.

You can pick up your own sustainable pencils with a variety of plant options on Amazon.

An eye glasses cleaning cloth sewn into a shirt.

It's a little ironic that the Redditor who shared this clever discovery of a cleaning cloth sewn into their clothing found it while wiping their glasses with the bottom of their shirt.

Here's to hoping other clothing manufacturers follow suit and design their apparel with a similar built-in cloth. After all, no one wants to deal with smudgy eyewear while they're on the go, and more often than not the edge of your shirt just doesn't cut it.

This crafty mug that comes equipped with a detachable spoon.

Now you'll always have a spoon by your side whenever the need arises as you slurp your hot beverage. And we can think of a couple of instances where this invention could seriously come in handy:

  1. Spooning out the mini marshmallows on your hot chocolate.
  2. Stirring in more hot cocoa powder after you've decided it's not chocolatey enough.
  3. Inevitably fishing for the piece of a cookie that was way too soggy, so it broke off and sunk to the bottom of the mug.

Need we say any more? Didn't think so.

Cooking instructions printed onto the plastic wrapping of this frozen pie.

We can't be the only ones who've taken a frozen chicken pot pie out of its box and then threw out the packaging before we knew how long to bake it for.

Instead of digging through the trash to pull out the box, this frozen pie offers a crafty solution: everything you need to know about its cooking instructions is printed on the plastic film.

Now, this is a super brilliant idea that we can get behind!

The special character drawing search option in Google Docs.

"Google Docs lets you search for special characters with keywords, or you can draw it if you don't know what to call it," explains the Redditor who shared this screenshot to the social site.

And we're so glad they did because now we can simply sketch the symbol we want to insert into a document instead of spending what feels like forever scrolling through the immense list of special characters.

This design is a serious game-changer!

This box that holds your snacks while you eat and folds back down for housing the remaining.

Here's another genius snack package that makes eating, and then storing the remainder, a total breeze.

This box features two openings: one at the top and the other in the middle of the packaging. The latter provides a convenient place to house the individually wrapped snack package on an angle for easy, hand-free consumption.

And as for the top opening, it can be resealed to keep the treats fresh longer.

Furniture hardware packaging divided by steps.

"This furniture hardware is sorted by step rather than by type," writes Redditor artemekiiaht.

And other users were quick to share their awe of the rather brilliant idea, as well as suggest some possible reasons for the concept.

"This is likely a service designer. Service designers, user experience designers, and other human factors specialists do this kind of thing for a living," explains one user.

"Or is it just someone who decided to make some legos recently and decided to bring the concept over," says another.

Whatever the answer may be, we're nonetheless impressed. This design seriously needs to be integrated into all DIY furniture building.

A pill bottle cap that displays when you last opened the bottle.

Let's be honest, we've all experienced that fear-stricken moment of not remembering for the life of us if we took a dose of medication. Fortunately, this all-consuming panic will long be in the past with a simple device — the Timercap.

The genius pill bottle lid indicates via a digital timestamp the last time you opened the bottle, which can be a total lifesaver!

Double notches on snack packaging so that as you get closer to the bottom you don't have to stick your whole hand in.

"This Korean snack has two notches on the bag, so you can open at the second notch for easier access in the later stages of snacking," writes Redditor cnostaw who shared the picture to the internet.

If this doesn't scream a company who actually cares about their consumer's snacking ease and comfort, we honestly don't know what does!

The extra button sewn onto the tag of this shirt.

If you're anything like us, you always 'misplace' that extra button that typically comes with your clothing in a detachable, tiny plastic baggy. But this button that's sewn directly onto the clothing's tag will absolutely relieve that problem.

Finally, we'll be able to locate the actual replacement button that originally came with the piece of apparel when it's needed!

Easily breakable pills to control specific doses.

"These 15mg buspirone tablets can be broken into 5mg doses or 7.5mg doses depending on which side you split the tablet," explains the Redditor who snapped the photo of the handy pill design.

And much like the sentiments of other Reddit users under the thread, we think the easy snap system of this medication is absolutely genius.

The unsung hero who thought of this concept certainly needs a raise!

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