2014-09-17 12:17:28
By Katia Moskvitch
We are the unwitting subjects of subtle mind games to make us better
passengers, writes Katia Moskvitch. And it sometimes starts before we even
board.
On a United Airlines flight from Newark to Denver in August, a small piece of
plastic caused an unexpected diversion to another airport and headlines
around the world. It started when one passenger had used a Knee Defender a
$21.95 piece of plastic that attaches to the tray table and blocks the seat in
front in an upright position. A furious row ensued, with name-calling and
drinks being thrown and the plane had to make an emergency stop in Chicago,
with police escorting both passengers off the flight.
The use of the Knee Defender is an extreme example of some of the tricks we use
to try and make our commute by bus, train or plane that little bit more
comfortable. The fight for space on public transport can turn the meekest among
us into a rebel. But while we might be aware of the tricks we pull to afford
ourselves that extra bit of space, we re not necessarily aware of those being
played on us by transport operators the nudge .
Persuading people to do the right thing when they re travelling is a nuanced
business. The nudge is the unspoken ushering towards a way of acting that makes
life easier for everyone, be it on a cramped Tube train or a commuter flight.
So how do they trick us into behaving the way they want ideally without us
even noticing they are doing it?
Armrest update
Let s take the popular sport of elbow fights over armrests in aeroplanes.
Sometimes it can be a simple design nudge that keeps the peace. Paperclip
Design, a Hong Kong-based company, has developed a prototype of an armrest that
has two levels; while one passenger s elbow rests on top, the other s fits at
the lower level of the armrest, says inventor James Lee, the company s
director.
It s still a concept, but small-scale trials suggest that it makes for happier
passengers, he says. It can reduce significant frustration regarding the space
for elbows, says Lee. Now the firm is in discussions with some interested
parties .
(Knee Defender/Gadget Duck)
The Knee Defender prevents the seat in front from being reclined (Knee Defender
/Gadget Duck)
Creating a better environment for users is vital, says Lee. Not just something
pleasant looking, but also practical, useful and ergonomic. All these factors
naturally influence passengers behaviour.
Nudging to make us better passengers is also happening even before we board the
planes at airports. Behavioural scientist Pelle Guldborg Hansen, founder of
the Danish Nudging Network is looking for environmental nudges to change
people s behaviour. He hopes to persuade passengers to board planes as orderly
and efficiently as possible, without bossing them around. Hansen s concept
revolves around the idea of helping passengers make better choices.
To improve the boarding process at Copenhagen airport, Hansen and his team have
tracked the behaviour of passengers near the departure gates of more than 500
flights. All that was needed to make the departure area less chaotic, says
Hansen, was to nudge people to sit down, because a seated passenger is less of
an obstacle than a standing one.
(Paperclip Armrest)
The Paperclip Armrest allows two people to rest on one armest, with ledges at
different levels (Paperclip Armrest)
In open gate areas, people tend to distribute evenly in the seating area.
However, in some cases this is not optimal since this seating pattern has some
people sitting near the main walking areas, making it difficult for passengers
arriving late to get to a seat. These newcomers just see a difficult path, with
obstacles such as feet, legs and luggage, says Hansen.
Steering passengers
His team realised that even when the gate area was full of people, only 70-90%
of seats were taken. A subtle redesign was needed. One quick way to nudge
passengers to sit down, for example, is to position power outlets in areas
furthest away from the airport s main street . Families can also be nudged to
sit in corners with more seating, which leaves corridors free of luggage and
pushchairs. Another trick is the strategic location of visual displays with
information. Our observations have shown the proximity principle to be at work
people place themselves systematically near informational screens, says
Hansen.
Then there is the trick to put more attractive chairs in areas where you want
to steer people to all with the purpose of influencing seating patterns in
ways that would make it perceptually easier for travellers to use all space
and make it easy to get to a free seat.
(Getty Images)
Sleeping on a row of seats might not endear you to your fellow travellers
(Getty Images)
The researchers noticed another reason why the seating capacity at gates was
not used to the max: the distribution and placement of chairs simply does not
meet people s preferences. Think of table-sizes of restaurants, says Hansen.
People prefer their own table, so to run an effective operation, restaurants
change table sizes constantly.
At airports that isn t an option so to optimise seating capacity, airports
have to consider the preferences of different types of travellers. Single
travellers tend to sit in the corners, and couples next to each other, for
instance, says Hansen.
Nudging with signs
Passengers, of course, don t always play along, and create extra private space
by placing luggage on a seat next to them. We observed how chair design could
nudge people not to do this, and found that the mere introduction of an armrest
here and there reduced luggage on seats, making it possible for more people to
sit down, says Hansen.
Hansen is now briefing airport architects and interior designers on how to
redesign seating areas at departure gates.
But there are other ways of reducing bottlenecks at airports, for example by
using visual displays to nudge passengers so that they don t rush the gates.
Hansen s team wants to keep them seated until their row is due to board the
plane. The nudge-intervention here consists of two elements, both based on the
principle of providing visual information, says Hansen. The departure gate,
for example, could have two screens, one to show the names of people who are
due to board the plane, while the other has calls to action, like "please keep
seated" and "find your passport and boarding pass". The visual cues basically
work like traffic lights.
(Getty Images)
The waiting areas at airports are being quietly transformed to make boarding
aircraft easier (Getty Images)
It s not just in airports that such nudges are useful. In Singapore, the Land
Transport Authority (LTA) and the Singapore Kindness Movement did a
six-month-long study last year to persuade passengers not to occupy seats
reserved for disabled or older travellers.
Instead of simply making the reserved seat signs more visible, the team
turned to positive phrases such as Be sweet and Show you care to point
passengers in the right direction. They also coloured these seats in bright
colours and happy patterns, making it obvious that these seats were for
people most in need of sitting down.
A similar nudging strategy has been in use on Virgin Trains in the UK. To make
sure passengers do not throw inappropriate objects down the train toilets, the
usual stern warning signs were tweaked. They now read: "Please don't flush
nappies, sanitary towels, paper towels, gum, old phones, unpaid bills, junk
mail, your ex's sweater, hopes, dreams or goldfish down this toilet."
Shock-absorbing seats
Nudging can even help pedestrians to skip the escalator, and take the stairs.
In a famous viral advertising video, turning a staircase in a Stockholm metro
into a piano combining piano key colours with sound effects took thousands
of commuters off the escalators and onto the stairs. In Singapore, brightly
coloured stairs and fitness slogans have had a similar effect.
Some problems, of course, can t be solved by nudging. A cramped economy class
has only that much space for subtle methods, and some tougher solutions are
necessary as tough, even, as titanium. French company Expliseat has designed
a so-called Titanium Seat made of composites, carbon fibre and titanium alloy
to work around the old "knees against the back of my chair" problem. It does it
by not reclining back into the seats of the person behind the seat is in a
fixed-recline position, giving the occupant a more comfortable seating
position. The seat is lighter than standard seat models, and is also much more
shock-absorbent.
So far, these seats have only been installed on one Airbus A321 of the Air
Mediterranee airline, on a flight from Paris to Marrakech in Morocco. Elsewhere
in the world, some passengers may still resort to their own gadgets such as the
Knee Defender. At least, until they re gently nudged not to