You may have already seen news stories about these pavement traffic lights. They've already been installed in the German cities of Augsburg and Cologne, adopted for a trial program in Sydney, Australia, and are being seriously considered by large municipalities across the world. It's likely you may see them soon in your own community within the next decade.

Traffic lights, mounted in the ground, designed to catch the attention of pedestrian's distracted by their phones.

Yup.

The problem of distracted pedestrians wandering into traffic has grown to such a height that municipalities around the world are taking notice, and they're blaming cell phones. Inattentive pedestrians who are too consumed by what is on their cell phone, listening to headphones, or both, make a disproportionate number of accident cases in several major cities. 

Pavement traffic lights are one way cities are combating the issue. The idea is to put the traffic light directly in the field of view of people who are looking down and using their phones. If they're too busy to look up and check the light, bring the light to them.

Now, I have to admit my reaction when I first hear about this was "whaaaa, really?” But, then I stepped back. While the grumpy old crank in my might reflexively scoff at the idea, this is actually a good example of practical design.

One of the toughest lessons to learn about design is that people act the way they act, not the way you want them to. While we all know that the best way to avoid being hit by a car because you're looking at your phone is to not look at your freaking phone, that knowledge just isn't particularly helpful. 

People are going to do what they do. We're a society of multi-taskers, always looking to optimize our time. No matter how smart it would be to just put the phone away and concentrate on your surroundings, people are going to make the most of their commute by chatting with friends, reading blogs, and crushing candy while on the move.

You can't solve a problem by wagging your finger at it and saying "well, you know you shouldn't do that!” People will try that anyway of course. The state of New Jersey recently introduced a bill that would issue a $50 fine for pedestrians looking at their phone while at a crosswalk, with a potential 15-day jail sentence for repeat offenders. In our very own backyard, Toronto city council voted to approve a motion to petition the province to place a ban on using cell phones while proceeding through a crosswalk. 

These motions won't solve anything. They'll hand out fines, maybe even jail sentences, but that the end of the day you can't legislate away natural behavior. The way to solve a problem isn't to try and force a vision of how it "should” be, but to address it as it is.

It may seem silly to have to install traffic lights in the sidewalk to shepherd distracted phone-zombies. I'm sure there will be no end of biting editorial cartoons skewering "brain-dead” millennials when similar systems eventually make their way into North America. But, I also bet they'll be effective at accomplishing their goal, reducing distracted pedestrian injuries.

When it comes to design, we need to think the same way. Don't get caught up in how you think it should be, instead, obsess about how it is. Keep your goals clear and focus on practical solutions that will achieve them. 

Changing the way we do things to adapt to new behaviors, trends, and expectations isn't silly. What would be silly is expecting everything to stay the same and counting on what worked years ago to work just as well tomorrow. Good design takes the world as it is and adapts to flourish in it.