Comments on: Spotted: Use in Case of Fire Only http://www.sgmitch.com/blog/2010/01/use-in-fire-only/ Encounters with designed experiences Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:28:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Sarah http://www.sgmitch.com/blog/2010/01/use-in-fire-only/comment-page-1/#comment-806 Sarah Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:15:16 +0000 http://www.sgmitch.com/blog/?p=708#comment-806 Bella Martin (@kbellamartin) responded to me on twitter with this brilliant illustration of the psychology behind why this button bugs me: http://wearscience.com/design/button/ Apparently a youth science museum has a button in their elevator that is DESIGNED to make kids curious enough to press it. "Hypothesis: Any button placed over ten feet up and so tantalizingly labeled must have a profoundly interesting effect if pressed. With no apparent documentation about its function there appears only one way to find out..." If you design a mission critical button or interface that is the same as an exhibit on temptation, curiosity and discovery, I think you might have missed the mark a little. Bella Martin (@kbellamartin) responded to me on twitter with this brilliant illustration of the psychology behind why this button bugs me: http://wearscience.com/design/button/ Apparently a youth science museum has a button in their elevator that is DESIGNED to make kids curious enough to press it.

“Hypothesis: Any button placed over ten feet up and so tantalizingly labeled must have a profoundly interesting effect if pressed. With no apparent documentation about its function there appears only one way to find out…”

If you design a mission critical button or interface that is the same as an exhibit on temptation, curiosity and discovery, I think you might have missed the mark a little.

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