I want you to imagine that you’re at a
concert your waiting line for the
restroom and your favorite artist is
about to perform the line is long and
moving slowly and you’re anxious to get
back to your seat then your notice the
restroom for the opposite gender doesn’t
have a line how likely are you to use
the opposite genders restroom I see
there are some females that are nodding
yes and that is accurate many females
are likely to use the male restroom but
are less comfortable doing so
then there were the males well we were a
lot less audacious we were unlikely to
explore the female restroom so I posed
two questions is it possible that our
restroom experience begins outside the
restroom door and how likely is it that
signage affects our perceptions and
decisions of restrooms I’ll share a
personal story I was at a college campus
and like most of us I had to use the
bathroom at the part of the lab and I
walk down this long hallway towards the
restrooms as I walk down this long
hallway I passed
the female restroom I walk down the
hallway a little further and I
approached the male restroom I wanted to
open the door I paused I look back at
the female restroom hmm I was baffled
confused and I didn’t know how to feel
about the situation I wasn’t sure if I
was part of a social experiment but I
went along with it and I wasn’t willing
to do the potty dance because of a sign
although in that moment I did fear that
the signage we use on restroom doors may
be doing more harm than good as I became
increasingly curious about restroom
signage and how we perceive messages and
went on an impromptu journey of public
restrooms for several months I sought
public restrooms everywhere I went I may
not have had to use the restroom but I
would take a photo of the sign yes I
admit I was the creepy guy who take his
phone out of his pocket and snap a photo
of the bathroom sign following this
journey of potty
rafi I ponder the difference between
experiential and utilitarian behavior
when using shared restrooms are we
really likely to do the potty dance
because of a sign let’s find out the
first study we conducted was the test
comfort levels of individuals in similar
situations and what we found was when
the male restroom was shared and the
female female restroom was gender
specific comfort levels were high then
we reverse the situation when the female
restroom was shared and the male rescue
emerged under specific comfort levels
significantly decreased but what was
extremely fascinating was that not only
where the females not comfortable
neither were the males we learned that
the majority of males were not
comfortable with females sharing their
restroom so what makes one gender more
willing to share than another I recently
had a conversation with a college
professor who is highly regarded to be
an objective decision maker in fact she
is the professor of decision science we
showed this college professor a gender
neutral restroom placard she said she
reduced the restroom then we showed that
same college professor the female and
gender-neutral placard she declined the
true difference between the two
restrooms is how the message is framed
the utilitarian response would have been
to use with the restroom
either restroom but it wasn’t the
response was about the perceived
experience next we tested people’s
willingness to use and their comfort
levels when showing two separate
restroom doors that were each labeled as
a specific gender or gender neutral
females weren’t likely to use the
restroom that not specifically mentioned
their gender on the door then they were
the males well we were still a lot less
audacious and unwilling to explore and
venture into any restroom that the nots
a male on the door and this was the
first research that gave us an
unfavorable comfort level by members of
the transgender community well what
about a restroom with one door such as a
single stall restroom when we showed
people one restroom door with a gender
neutral restroom placard members of the
transgender community were extremely
comfortable
meanwhile both males and females were
more than likely to use the restroom and
their comfort levels were moderately –
very comfortable we answered our
question that we need to use the
restroom utility does supersede
experience and we could probably call
that a wing for the restroom with one
door but we’re only human we associate
with others who like us and we seek
answers that best support our personal
beliefs and our personal interests and
we could probably agree that we are
naturally selfish so how do we
simultaneously remove a personal bias
and improve the restroom experience for
all gender identities let’s build on
that the first approach was to remove
gender from the restroom placards three
factors of gender were removed first we
reduced the silhouettes to shoulders and
above then we removed the clothing and
color associated with gender the shared
restroom placard gave us some of the
highest responses from experience and
utility to date but as we felt we got
closer and closer to what we consider to
be the right answer for restroom placard
we decided that we needed to make the
experience fun and remove potential
thoughts of gender from the message the
everyone placard gave us the highest
responses of experience and utility by
all gender identities
although non-traditional restroom
placards could improve the user
experience there is any Universal answer
removing non-text gender attributes such
as clothing and color could present a
challenge for a person who speaks
another language we know that we’re not
willing to do the potty dance because of
a sign but how likely are we to make
judgments because of a sign and since
there isn’t a universal answer is it
possible to design a better potty
experience from outside the restroom
door thank you
you
concert your waiting line for the
restroom and your favorite artist is
about to perform the line is long and
moving slowly and you’re anxious to get
back to your seat then your notice the
restroom for the opposite gender doesn’t
have a line how likely are you to use
the opposite genders restroom I see
there are some females that are nodding
yes and that is accurate many females
are likely to use the male restroom but
are less comfortable doing so
then there were the males well we were a
lot less audacious we were unlikely to
explore the female restroom so I posed
two questions is it possible that our
restroom experience begins outside the
restroom door and how likely is it that
signage affects our perceptions and
decisions of restrooms I’ll share a
personal story I was at a college campus
and like most of us I had to use the
bathroom at the part of the lab and I
walk down this long hallway towards the
restrooms as I walk down this long
hallway I passed
the female restroom I walk down the
hallway a little further and I
approached the male restroom I wanted to
open the door I paused I look back at
the female restroom hmm I was baffled
confused and I didn’t know how to feel
about the situation I wasn’t sure if I
was part of a social experiment but I
went along with it and I wasn’t willing
to do the potty dance because of a sign
although in that moment I did fear that
the signage we use on restroom doors may
be doing more harm than good as I became
increasingly curious about restroom
signage and how we perceive messages and
went on an impromptu journey of public
restrooms for several months I sought
public restrooms everywhere I went I may
not have had to use the restroom but I
would take a photo of the sign yes I
admit I was the creepy guy who take his
phone out of his pocket and snap a photo
of the bathroom sign following this
journey of potty
rafi I ponder the difference between
experiential and utilitarian behavior
when using shared restrooms are we
really likely to do the potty dance
because of a sign let’s find out the
first study we conducted was the test
comfort levels of individuals in similar
situations and what we found was when
the male restroom was shared and the
female female restroom was gender
specific comfort levels were high then
we reverse the situation when the female
restroom was shared and the male rescue
emerged under specific comfort levels
significantly decreased but what was
extremely fascinating was that not only
where the females not comfortable
neither were the males we learned that
the majority of males were not
comfortable with females sharing their
restroom so what makes one gender more
willing to share than another I recently
had a conversation with a college
professor who is highly regarded to be
an objective decision maker in fact she
is the professor of decision science we
showed this college professor a gender
neutral restroom placard she said she
reduced the restroom then we showed that
same college professor the female and
gender-neutral placard she declined the
true difference between the two
restrooms is how the message is framed
the utilitarian response would have been
to use with the restroom
either restroom but it wasn’t the
response was about the perceived
experience next we tested people’s
willingness to use and their comfort
levels when showing two separate
restroom doors that were each labeled as
a specific gender or gender neutral
females weren’t likely to use the
restroom that not specifically mentioned
their gender on the door then they were
the males well we were still a lot less
audacious and unwilling to explore and
venture into any restroom that the nots
a male on the door and this was the
first research that gave us an
unfavorable comfort level by members of
the transgender community well what
about a restroom with one door such as a
single stall restroom when we showed
people one restroom door with a gender
neutral restroom placard members of the
transgender community were extremely
comfortable
meanwhile both males and females were
more than likely to use the restroom and
their comfort levels were moderately –
very comfortable we answered our
question that we need to use the
restroom utility does supersede
experience and we could probably call
that a wing for the restroom with one
door but we’re only human we associate
with others who like us and we seek
answers that best support our personal
beliefs and our personal interests and
we could probably agree that we are
naturally selfish so how do we
simultaneously remove a personal bias
and improve the restroom experience for
all gender identities let’s build on
that the first approach was to remove
gender from the restroom placards three
factors of gender were removed first we
reduced the silhouettes to shoulders and
above then we removed the clothing and
color associated with gender the shared
restroom placard gave us some of the
highest responses from experience and
utility to date but as we felt we got
closer and closer to what we consider to
be the right answer for restroom placard
we decided that we needed to make the
experience fun and remove potential
thoughts of gender from the message the
everyone placard gave us the highest
responses of experience and utility by
all gender identities
although non-traditional restroom
placards could improve the user
experience there is any Universal answer
removing non-text gender attributes such
as clothing and color could present a
challenge for a person who speaks
another language we know that we’re not
willing to do the potty dance because of
a sign but how likely are we to make
judgments because of a sign and since
there isn’t a universal answer is it
possible to design a better potty
experience from outside the restroom
door thank you
you
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