Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Bryce Howitson

Or the future of elevators & really really big buildings

As a digital designer I often have to be reminded that there are many analogue objects in our day-to-day lives that could benefit from a better user experience. Luckily that happened just the other day.

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During a recent interview, I was asked to participate in an exercise of redesigning an elevator. After being on both ends of this question (I’ve used it while interviewing candidates myself), I’m acutely aware that what really matters in these cases is ability to demonstrate a sound design process. In-fact this problem is frequently pitched as “unsolvable”. However, I haven’t been able to get the problem out of my head and I’d like to suggest a solution.

For those who are unfamiliar, the scenario goes like this:

“Imagine an enormous building is being designed. Its 5,000 floors tall, dwarfing everything around it, and contains a veritable city. The building has offices, residences, schools, grocery stores, parks and so on. On any given day this building might play host to the equivalent of five stadiums worth of people. Obviously the traditional elevator isn’t up to the task for a building of this size.”

You’re then asked to design a solution that will allow any person to reach any floor of this massive building while circumventing problems like finding room for 5,000 buttons and traditional elevator banks.

If you’re reading this with hopes of preparing for an interview, please understand that the interviewer really cares about your process. My advice would be to restate requirements, define your audience, empathize with your users and state their needs. Finally you should identify technology/social constraints (problems you’ll solve) and create a few use stories. At this point your time allotment is likely up and the exercise is complete. Hopefully you’ve demonstrated HOW YOU approach solving a problem not a solution.

I wasn’t able to convince my brain to stop at demonstrating my process. Something about the way I’m wired wants to at least propose a solution.

What’s broken?

So we’re on the same page, here are some of the problems I’m addressing.

5,000 floors is a big building. Nobody wants to stop every few floors to let others on or off an elevator.
Fighting gravity in a vertical sense isn’t practical. Moving people fast enough to be efficient would feel like the world’s craziest roller coaster ride. That’s not the way most people want to get to work. Plus the energy requirements are staggering.
What happens in the case of an energy outage? If elevators aren’t practical in this building it’s a safe bet stairs are problematic too. Worse in a disaster parts of the building may need to be evacuated safely and efficiently.
Traditional buttons are not a viable interface for this number of floors. Even if buttons would work, the building directory would be much to complicated for people to digest and follow.
Typical elevators are not comfortable places to spend any amount of time. They either generate claustrophobia or vertigo depending on the configuration. Plus standing in a group for the time required to traverse a building of this size isn’t an enjoyable experience.

Amusement park meets Hyperloop

I would categorize most UX design today as the combination of existing solutions instead of creating something entirely new. Luckily there’s already plenty of technology available to help solve the elevator problem.

Elon Musk recently announced an idea for high-speed transport via a system he calls “Hyperloop”. The concept is quite simple. Place transport pods in a near vacuum on a magnetic or air cushion track and they can move at very high speeds. Reducing air resistance also decreases energy usage which is a huge win when moving lots of people.

Example of corkscrew structure

I’m stealing the Hyperloop concept for people movers in this building. If we place the tubes in a corkscrew shape around the building we can move passengers quickly while still maintaining access to each floor. Yes I said tubes plural as I expect there to be several.

There’s an added bonus with this design. Since the tubes are essentially ramps they provide a solution to egress large numbers of people in emergency situations. Second, this means pods won’t drop like a rock down a vertical shaft during a mechanical failure.

Car for one, please

Traditional elevators are communal boxes that force entire groups to move at the same speed to similar destinations. In a large structure that won’t work. If you’re taking your child to preschool 350 floors away, you don’t want to stop 47 times in between your actual destination. Again there’s existing technology to leverage here. Personal Rapid Transit systems have been around for years. The basic concept is that each transport pod is designed for an individual or a family and goes directly to the chosen destination. We can add efficiency to the system by “popping” pods off the main track at each “station” or floor. This means embarking and debarking won’t block other pods progress to their destination.

Siri meet Google Now

Ok individual pods sound cool, but we still have the problem of selecting a destination. There isn’t wall space for thousands of buttons let alone a good way to organize them. So let’s dump the buttons concept and instead explore algorithms.

Something like Google Now can get your pod where you need to be. If you’re not familiar with “Now”, Google uses its tracking technology to improve your life by learning your habits, locations and paths you use to get there. The exact same technology that remembers your office location and predicts traffic can be used to remember that you’re favorite coffee shop is on floor 2,048, that you pick up from preschool on Monday and Thursday or that you stop for groceries most Fridays. Better yet an interface with a computing device (like your smartphone) allows the pod identify and take you to your routine destinations without effort on your part.

Pod exploration

But wait you say, “I’m a creature of habit, except when I’m not. What if I don’t want to stop for coffee today?” Enter voice navigation like Apple’s Siri. Simply talk to your pod to cancel a destination or find another. Or if you’re feeling adventurous you could say, “take me someplace new”. But wait there’s more.

The IoT Elevator

Our building has lots of floors, with lots of people and places to track. You shouldn’t have to remember that the park is on level 3,759. Just say, “take me to the park” and away you’ll go since the building directory is part of the navigation system. This idea can go a step even further. Allow the building to connect to your calendar, social networks and internet enabled refrigerator. Now if your calendar has a reservation for a dinner date your pod can whisk you off in that direction. If you’re low on milk, a stop at the store might be suggested.

What if you want to visit a friend? There’s bound to be a few John Anderson’s in a building this size. Tell the pod you wish to visit Mr. Anderson and it will cross reference your social networks to suggest someone. If you’re connected to John A. #12 via LinkedIn and you’re friends on Facebook there’s a good chance he’s the one you wish to see. Plus, the building can notify John that you’re on the way.

The walls are closing in

Given the size of the building and the length of the tubes, there’s a good chance you’ll spend considerable time in these pods. On the up side it’s a transport for one, so you could listen to the latest podcast (get it? podcast in a pod…) without annoying anyone else.

But what’s a claustrophobe to do? After all this is still a small box. We could add windows, but that sounds about as much fun as watching a subway wall go past. Removing windows, on the other hand, improves structural integrity, reduces weight and unfortunately, frightens passengers. Luckily the airline industry has us covered. The IXION concept replaces windows with high quality wrap-around digital displays. Images or video projected on the walls contribute to an open airy feel and equate to an interface designer’s dream. Now instead of sitting in a scary blank box, imagine catching up on your favorite TV episodes, having a video conference or enjoying a Scotch by the fire (after all you’re not driving).

In conclusion

This idea solves the problems I listed (among others) and dare I say, almost sounds like an enjoyable experience. Now if only I had access to a building with a few thousand floors to test out my concept… Though something tells me that’s much more complicated to create than a simple elevator.

So what crazy problem have you tried to solve recently?

If you like this, please tap the heart or share it with others. If you take issue with something I’ve said, leave a comment or response so we can discuss.

By day, I’m a product designer currently working to improve healthcare communication. By night I’m a Google Expert, a product mentor and writing a book about getting started in UX. Follow me on Twitter @howitson.

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Designing ups and downs was originally published in Prototyping: From UX to Front End on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Designing ups and downs

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