Touch-free Design
The Coronavirus has finally made the world aware of the dangers of touching dirty surfaces. The problem is that our product and service design hasn’t being paying attention to this as a requirement. To add to the problem, it is often products from different companies that are being assembled into one service use case by a 3rd party, such as a restaurant owner.
In the above two examples, a communal bottle of BBQ sauce sits, undoubtedly teeming with bugs and dirt on the outside, waiting to be picked up by a bare hand that will shortly be used to eat fries and a sandwich. Similarly, in another restaurant there is a blow dryer which will blow dirty air onto your hands, followed by a door handle, once again teeming with bugs, that needs to be opened by a bare hand. It’s no wonder we pass viruses around so easily. You should be able to eat lunch or use a restroom without touching anything other than yourself.
Now is the time for a touch-free and sanitary design movement. Some of it is product design, but a lot of it needs to be service design. Ketchup can be dispensed into ramekins prior to use, movement sensors can dispense recycled towels and open doors when you approach. Cars can mechanically open doors for you. Credit cards can respond to a tap instead of an insert, and people can pay by phone. We can stop using paper money which is a disease vector. Public transit can be designed so that you don’t have to hold on with your hands. Food can be served so that utensils, instead of hands, can be used to eat it. Toilets can auto-flush. The list goes on and on.
The argument for touch-free and sanitary design is simultaneously an argument for automation. You don’t want a bathroom attendant handing you your towel. You don’t want to touch anything to request things or do things. You want the technology to predict the simple things you want, and then automatically do them for you (see previous posts). If we changed the design of our world in this way, we would be reducing the contagion rates for new diseases in the future, and making society a lot safer.
