Emotional Design

, , — Rebecca Cottrell on February 6, 2010 at 6:47 pm

These bins have started appearing all over the Bloomsbury campus at University College London:

Litter bin

It’s a great example of emotional design. While there is usually a convenient displacement when you toss something into the bin, these bins remind you where the rubbish ends up. Emotional reactions to this idea — disgust, guilt, horror, etc — prompt you to put your litter in the recycling compartment.

2 Comments

  1. The Lambeth Country Show (and a few other festivals) has had bins with that label for ages courtesy of this guy: http://www.samthewheels.co.uk/2008-interviews-volunteers/454

    I always wondered why it hadnt become the default message, it’s a great educational guilt-trip. Very happy to see it in use elsewhere.

    Comment by Richard Pope — February 7, 2010 @ 12:16 am

  2. How about a picture or icon for a landfill.. smelly piles of randomness with a couple of vultures circling over them? Given that Landfill was originally meant to be euphemistic, that might be even better, no?

    Comment by Rick — February 8, 2010 @ 8:46 am

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