Now that I have your attention, I thought I'd blog about telling people what to do (groan!) inspired by a current campaign that Transport for London is running on bus stops and also on their site www.tfl.gov.uk.
I was surprised (and a bit saddened) to see that there was a poster telling people how to behave on public transport - not only about giving up a seat but also telling people to say thank you...
...with a colourful character set of people who pledge not to shout on their mobile or eat smelly food, and to keep their temper down:
There's also a film you can watch to learn to be considerate too:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/projectsandschemes/communityandeducation/asb/film.aspx
However, it was interesting to note that other people (whether we like it or not) are also part of the user experience of travelling on public transport - not just the seat (if you can get one!), journey duration and route.
But maybe we all do need a good talking to now and again? Recently, a colleague recently spoke to a heavily pregnant friend of hers who asked a fellow female passenger to vacate her seat as she was feeling rather faint, to be promptly rebutted with the reply 'PROVE IT!'.
A mate of mine from overseas always knows when he has arrived at Heathrow as there is a plethora of 'Don't do this/that' signs all over the place - some are required for health and safety. This instructional overload reminds me of a scene from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy where a reluctant hero presses a button next to a 'Don't press this' sign which illuminates a screen saying 'Please do not press this button again'. But I do wonder whether careful design can reduce all this visual instructional clutter? For example, at the British Airways HQ at Waterside in Harmondsworth, there are no 'authorised personnel only' signs at reception but there is an actual stream of water that you can only cross via a manned bridge - back to nature simplicity, but it works!
Fortunately in the online world we are moving on from shouting 'CLICK THIS BIG BUTTON HERE TO BUY THIS ITEM' to more subtle, conversational ways of instructing users - building links into a grammatically correct sentence or encouraging more exploration and play rather than restricting users to a predetermined route.
Maybe there is still a childish element in all of us whereby the degree of action is inversely proportional to the amount of instruction we receive. So maybe the solution is more positive instructional messaging - 'please explore', 'you may find it easier to carry your trolley on the lift instead of the escalator', or even 'to make yourself deeply unpopular with fellow travellers, please shout into your mobile'?