OREM, Utah, June 18 (UPI) -- Officials at Utah Valley University said a staircase with a designated texting lane made famous in viral photos has received positive feedback from students.

The staircase in the Oren school's Student Life & Wellness Center is marked with separate lanes labeled "walk," "run" and "text" to accommodate the different speeds of students, but officials said the benefits are more aesthetic than functional.


"When you have 18- to 24-year-olds walking on campus glued to their smartphones, you're almost bound to run into someone somewhere; it's the nature of the world we live in," said Matt Bambrough, UVU's creative director. "But that isn't the reason we did it -- we used that fact to engage our students, to catch their attention and to let them know we are aware of who they are and where they're coming from. The design was meant for people to laugh at rather than a real attempt to direct traffic flow."

Amy Grubbs, the school's director for campus recreation, said students often cited staircases as being among the "gloomist" spots on campus.

"The stairs were just lifeless before," Grubbs told ABC News. "Students don't necessarily abide by it but it's funny to watch students push their friends over in the right lane as a joke if they're texting."

"Other people don't even see it because they're so consumed in their phones," she said.

The text lane is reminiscent of a scheme in Chongquing, China, which saw a section of sidewalk marked off for those who choose to look at their phones while walking instead of watching where they are going.