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Louis Noble's avatar

Great post. I once took a dump at the Borgata casino in a bathroom with heavy full-length wood doors and thick walls—even an ashtray to boot! Sat with a Marlboro and my phone, I was as a God.

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Ryan Tsamouris's avatar

Great write-up, though I’d say bathroom design has absolutely been rewarded for gas stations like Buc-ees, where the entire complex is built around large, well-equipped, and purposefully staffed restrooms. There are privacy dividers between urinals, and all toilets are behind floor-to-ceiling walls and a door that has an oversized deadbolt with open/closed indicators. Take everything else out of a Buc-ees and people will still prefer it over any other travel stop just for the bathrooms. Why this hasn’t been replicated at every travel stop across the world is just wild to me.

But your point stands - “psychological engineering” and a Museum of some kind is much needed in many areas. We get used to this in the IT world with UI/IX design because it’s required for user adoption, but the person designing a new door must really be kicking themselves for working in a market that only rewards how many units they can sell, rather than how many people’s lives they make more pleasant through daily interaction.

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