Fist pumping to cross the street is the way of the future!
I’m tired of tapping (or let’s be honest, smashing) a dirty old button on my trip across the road. Spanish designers Alfredo & Alberto have installed ‘Walkbumps’ across Los Angeles to encourage safety when crossing the road as well as keeping grubby fingertips off the button. Brilliant! Who knew you could look so cool while crossing the street at the lights?
The best way to change people’s behavior is through fun. By adding a friendly flair to road safety, people are far more likely to engage with the activity rather than challenge it. Transforming the crossing button into something that gives people joy changes their experience from a mundane action to one they’ll remember and want to share. Appealing to an individual’s intrinsic motivation is far more successful than enforcing boring rules.
Another example of the ‘fun theory’ is in Germany where you can play a game of Pong while waiting for the lights to turn green. The idea of ‘StreetPong’ is a brilliant way of occupying pedestrians while they wait for the lights.
These experiments have been hugely successful in changing behavior for the better. I would love to see more creative concepts like this around Melbourne; everyone should be fist bumping their way across the street!
Check out the clip below:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Stephanie Leo
Design Creative