#5 Loo Behaviour
Changing lifelong habits
After relocating to Lisbon, I consistently found myself in a state of unintentional non-compliance with local bathroom etiquette. I wanted to change but didn’t know how.
Behaviour Thinking
I believe Behaviour Thinking is at the heart of solving many real-world problems. As I learnt in this book, we don’t design for personas, we design for real humans with tricky problems, everyday distractions and differing abilities. To change someone’s behaviour once is impressive but shifting lifelong habits is a different story. Making decisions for the ‘Near Future’ vs. the ‘Future’ is even trickier — “I want to have money for retirement but I want to buy this fancy car now”. It makes me wonder, what truly motivates us and what makes us do what we do?
I trust that most people approach the world with good intentions. Sometimes we follow through and sometimes we don’t, but I wonder what is involved in making ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ decisions?
Prompting a New Habit
To prevent clogged plumbing, many European countries use bins to dispose of toilet paper; a rule usually prompted to the user by a poorly placed and designed sign. After relocating to Lisbon in 2021, I was met with this new daily custom which took a long time to adapt to.
It got me thinking, how might I change my lifelong loo behaviour? What might nudge me? When might it happen?
Some day I may test or research this further, but for now here are some of my (wacky) solutions. PS. I’d love to see yours!
