In some ways this post is a public service announcement. It turns out you need to lubricate your cross-cut shredder every time you empty the bin. If you are not doing that, you should start now. You can get shredder oil or shredder lubricant sheets.
In most other ways, though, this post is really about the value of design.
I always assumed a shredder needs no maintenance. You plug it in, turn it on and it is ready to go. However when our shredder stopped working, the customer service person at Fellows told me it is critical to lubricate a shredder. Critical.
Let's take a look at how this critical information is communicated. Note the red arrow and gray box I added around the maintenance section in their manual:
