Frustration-fostering

Describing something that is likely to cause, increase, or perpetuate feelings of annoyance, disappointment, anger, or helplessness. This can apply to systems, processes, individuals, or situations that are inherently difficult, inefficient, or create obstacles, leading to a sense of being thwarted or unable to achieve desired outcomes. It implies a recurring or systematic issue rather than a one-off event. The impact is to make the target feel blocked, stymied, or actively inconvenienced. The resulting feelings can have a detrimental effect on mental well-being and productivity, making this a negative adjective to assign to an entity.

Frustration-fostering meaning with examples

• The company’s new customer service chatbot proved utterly frustration-fostering. Its inability to understand simple requests and the endless loops it generated left customers more exasperated than helped, leading to lost sales and negative online reviews, causing the company's reputation to suffer significantly.
• The complex and opaque application process for the grant was incredibly frustration-fostering. Requirements were vague and the portal suffered continual errors, so even well-qualified applicants abandoned the process, thus hindering the project's success.
• Dealing with the antiquated and buggy software at the office proved consistently frustration-fostering. Frequent crashes and freezes, combined with a user interface designed for an earlier era, created a constant drag on productivity and drained the workforce’s time and energy.
• The endless delays and bureaucratic red tape surrounding obtaining a simple building permit were deeply frustration-fostering. The lack of clear communication and the arbitrary nature of the rules created a sense of powerlessness and made any improvement to the property impossible.