Stop here

In the morning today, I noticed that one of the signs at a fairly busy red light on the drive to the park’n’ride had been changed from “Stop here on red” to “Stop here on red to activate sensor.” I’m sure most people have seen both versions of this sign, but today I was running late, and I noticed that my reaction to the revised wording was different than to the original.

My initial reaction to “Stop here on red” is that it is a forceful command, with no indication of either what the consequences to me will be if I do not (although crashing into another vehicle is certainly one fairly obvious consequence), or the benefit to me if I do stop there. I think my tendency is to ignore, or even question the authority of the sign.

On the other hand, my reaction to “Stop here on red to activate sensor” was that I wanted to stop right here because I perceived that doing so may cause the light to turn green a little more quickly, and so I might not miss the bus.

It may seem like a fairly trivial moment in the day, but I’ve found that drawing on all the little day-to-day experiences like this one helps me to think about, design, and implement a better user experience.