Information Design and the Placebo Effect
The last time I pressed a cross walk button was when I was a child. The same applies to elevator buttons. I grew up with a younger sister and brother competing to be the first to press the button. As I grew older, enough to understand why I was pressing the button, it no longer became a game and I started to pay attention to the purpose and/or benefit. Michael Bierut isn’t far off the mark questioning the actual effectiveness of the cross walk button and elevator close button. Think about it, if you do press that button or watch anyone else press the button, more than likely, the button will be pressed over and over again at a fast rate until the desired/promised action is performed.
I have also begun to question airline security. This is probably an over reach but I have my reasons to be suspicious. Accidentally, I went through the airport security with the decently sized, Leatherman Wave (a pocket knife containing a total of 17 tools) in my backpack. They didn’t catch it the first time. After discovering that my flight was delayed 4 hours and all the food/drink vendors and restaurants were closed in the terminal, I had to exit the terminal meaning yet another trip through security. This time I was the only one in line for the terminal leaving the entire security detail focus their attention on me. I was extremely embarrassed, when they found the knife but also a little unsettled that they didn’t find it the first time. I was given a long reassuring speech on their intention to review the security tapes to discover who was monitoring the scanner when my bags went through. Once found, appropriate measures would be taken.
Homeland Security goes through extensive measures to outfit the entire airport/PA system with signs, posters, and alerts condemning all dangerous objects from traveling on a plane. Shoes are required to be taken off, laptops out of the bags, sweaters, coats, scarves… how did a 4 inch, 8.5 oz pocket knife make it past security? Are employees relying too heavily on the effectiveness of the pre-security information designed to scare the public. It was probably an honest mistake, but it makes you wonder.