Yet virtually all solutions I’ve encountered fail almost immediately for the exact same reason…

The Presumption Reflex

If a friend says “I’m going to the movie theater” we automatically presume she’s going to watch a movie, because personal experience tells us that’s the main reason people visit theaters. But it was never stated she’s actually going to watch a film. However unlikely, she may be meeting up a friend or just really likes overpriced Skittles. When given a scenario, we have a tendency to conclude outcomes that seem reasonable to us.

It is precisely this cognitive reflex that we as designers have to fight against, and the very first line of defense is questioning, as experienced designers always have more questions than answers.

Let’s tackle the challenge

Before we get to the 1,000th floor, we need to start with the foundation- uncover constraints and obtain greater context. Let’s start with the…

Purpose

“Let’s say it’s a biggish elevator, can hold around 50 people, probably has a few seats for taking rest, and a TV screen” -random online solution

When we think of an elevator, our personal experience recalls all the times we’ve rode in one, so our presumptive reflex tells us that elevators are used by people. But what if the elevator in question is for transporting animals, cars, or washing machines?

Nearly all solutions made this mistake and designed a human-centric interior equipped with TVs, NFC card readers and directories, without knowing if it will be used by people:

Images by Kristine Yuen

Images by Kristine Yuen

Environment

“Who lives here?

A 1000 floor building is potentially a whole city living inside a mega structure, so it is feasible there is everything a city needs (parks, schools, playgrounds, hospitals, theaters etc) within the building.” -random online solution

The second presumptive mistake is assuming that the building is inhabited by people as well. Once again, nothing suggests that there are any residential or commercial spaces, yet solutions included searchable directories of the building’s imaginary residents:

Images by William Clark

Why assume that the building is not a parking garage for cars or an industrial warehouse for washing machines?

Users

This line of questioning quickly leads us to the realization that we don’t know who the users are or what their needs might be. Is the interface meant for elevator passengers on the way to their apartment or operators who control multiple industrial elevators in a washing machine factory control room? Is there even a need for an interface in the first place? Could it be automated?