Its concept extends all the way to its stats, with its speed being the highest in gen 1 by a whole 20 points, but it can't do anything with this speed because its other stats suck in comparison, leaving it as nothing more than a trap meant to explode in the player's face.

In terms of concept, it's supposed to be a "mimic" pokemon, mimicking a pokeball.
Except it's larger than Voltorb, who's already several times larger than a pokeball.

Electrode is the worst pokemon
In terms of design, it's just a pokeball sprite but bigger, with a face painted on. Yes, in gen 1, pokeball sprites did not have the line to separate the white and red halves. At least Voltorb's eyes look like they're part of its body