one in six cellphones contain fecal
matter because the majority of us use
our cell phones on the toilet and most
of us don’t clean our phones in public
restrooms we fix our hair or makeup you
watch Netflix and we wash our hands
hopefully we take narcotics both legal
and illegal and the majority of us use
the stall that is faded from the
bathroom door because we believe it is
the cleanest our restroom experiences
are private and they’re common so if we
use the Resurrection for the same
experience and utilitarian purposes why
is the label on the door such a concern
public restrooms have a short yet
complex history the public restrooms are
less than 150 years old and back then
Rett public restrooms were male only and
today for the most part policy changed
and their male and female but the
original restroom the original public
restroom was male female gender-neutral
deer and dinosaur and when did trees
become the victim of human elimination
my first encounter with public restrooms
or my first memorable encounter with
restroom signage occurred on a United
States military base overseas on this
base there are public restroom trailers
all throughout the base and although
there are many I’m human and subjected
patterns from complacency I used the
same trailer every day I use the same
trailer so often that I began to ignore
the signs on the door then one morning I
go to use the restroom of the shower I
was the only person in the trailer so I
step outside the shower curtain to dry
off and for females walk in they stared
at me and I stared back at them we
stared at each other as if we owed one
another money hey you’re in the wrong
bathroom no no I’m not yes this became a
female latrine 2 days ago
there’s been a sign on the door for two
weeks Oh as restrooms changed so did the
law and we often say that technology is
too slow – or the laws too slow to
maintain pace with technology and to
some people indoor plumbing is mono
technology
I still call my father
for help with indoor plumbing I’ll share
another story and I promise for less of
a visualization when I first learned
about North Carolina’s House bill – also
known as the bathroom bill I wasn’t very
knowledgeable about bathroom policy so
when I first learned about the bathroom
bill that restricted people to use the
restroom associate with their gender
identified at birth my initial reaction
isn’t that already illegal then I
encountered a restroom that
discriminated one discriminated one
gender and not another
and also baffled and confused by the
design of this restroom that had to
figure out why it was done like that and
more importantly how people felt about
it
so I ceased all other research and don’t
head first into this phenomenon there
are some organizations that will label
one restroom as gender specific and the
other as gender-neutral I’ll give you an
example you’re walking to the restroom
and you approach two doors the door on
the left
is female the door on the right is male
and gender-neutral and the situations
often reversed male and female and
gender-neutral in concept this sounds
like it solves a utilitarian problem but
humans are utilitarian thinkers so I’ll
share a story from a college professor I
recently showed a college professor
arrest true a gender neutral restroom
placard and she said she would use the
restroom measure the same college
professor the female engineer neutral
placard and she declined the two
restrooms share the same meeting same
definition of the placard but yet two
different responses the utilitarian
response would have been to use the
restroom but the response was about the
perceived experience and then we took
that same scenario and we replicated
with 6000 participants when we showed
6,000 females the female and gender
neutral and gender neutral placards 89%
were more than comfortable with using
the female and gender-neutral version
again two different restroom signs two
different responses well how would males
feel in this situation when we showed
males the same placards but the male
versions males typically did not care
what the signage of the door said males
a very utilitarian they’ll walk in the
restroom
use the restroom and exit the restroom
but males did have one concern and it
wasn’t their restroom
the concern that most males had was the
female restroom males did not want
females sharing the female restroom
during the tense bathroom debate of 2015
when most people are confused about what
was going on in the bathroom I was
Marcus what was going on outside the
bathroom door when is the bathroom no
longer bathroom one is it a can a John a
lavatory of a tree nor a loo when is it
a powder room a potty or privy and when
is it a restroom a throne or water
closet with so many names
why are we so hung up on gendered
pronouns more so why are we so hung upon
using gender-neutral as the default
option for shared restrooms behavioral
science tells us that gender neutral is
not the preferred option by most people
so we have so many names to the restroom
let’s start using more fun names
although non-traditional restroom signs
could create a more enjoyable restroom
experience there isn’t a universal
answer they can probably all relate to a
time we’ve been to a restaurant that had
a foreign theme and we didn’t know which
bathroom door to use are we blokes or
are we Sheila’s traditional restroom
signs can be found nearly anywhere and
organizations are constantly seeking new
ways and more appropriate ways of
conforming to the non-binary gender
population so what would happen if we
took the traditional restroom sign and
reframe the message but let’s not
reframe the message to match the
transgender population let’s match
everyone and we just might nudge a new
normal or need default through behavior
change so we took the traditional
restroom placard with the traditional
male silhouette and the word gendered
below it and we showed it to males and
males were very comfortable to
expression design then we took the
opposite version took the female
silhouette and put gendered below it and
females again were very comfortable with
this design but then we thought would it
be possible to increase acceptance and
we’ll use to use if we removed the
silhouette completely from the restroom
placard so we created two more designs a
gender M and in gender deaf and we
showed these to males and females alike
against 6,000
participants each and again males and
females alike we’re extremely
comfortable and extremely likely to use
this restroom design then the moment of
truth how would this placard feel fair
for everyone if we had a shared version
so we showed the share version to people
who identified as male female non-binary
and transgender and the significant
majority were extremely comfortable with
this rationale design but as we got
closer to what we felt like was the
appropriate answer for a restroom design
that would work for everyone we realized
you know we don’t live in a perfect
world how would these wrestling designs
fare if children were involved so I want
you to imagine you’re at a concert and
your favorite artist is about to perform
you’re waiting in line for the restroom
and the line is long and it’s moving
slowly you’re anxious to get back to
your seats then you notice the restroom
for the opposite gender doesn’t have the
line how likely are you to use the
opposite genders restroom here’s what we
know we know that males are too scared
to go into the female restroom and we
know that females are likely to invade
the male restroom but are less
comfortable doing so
same scenario now you wait in line for
that restroom with a small child how
likely are you to use that how likely
are you to send a small child into that
restroom alone less than 1% of people
will have that child to enter that
restroom by themselves so then we tested
the all placard again and instead of 1%
we got 20% not the highest results but
greater than the previous 1% then we had
one more nudge up our sleeve to nudge
behavior change and get people to accept
shared restrooms when children are
involved the everyone placard the
everyone placard has consistently given
us the highest results of acceptance
comfort and willingness to use across
all gender identities in all situations
and scenarios especially with parents of
young children our perceptions of
restrooms are likely to change from
private restrooms to public restrooms
for example we use this we use the stall
that is furthest from the bathroom door
because we believe it is the cleanest so
if we’re all using the same stall is it
really the cleanest 85% of Americans
believe they had
exceptionally clean toothbrush
toothbrushes are recommended to be
stored seven feet from a toilet but in
America the average toothbrush the
toilet distance is a mere three and a
half feet and we all believe that we’re
pretty quick on the toilet but one in
four Americans will spend at least 60
minutes on the toilet each day so not
all restroom concerns are about
transgender individuals when we exploit
a Canas then a period of time on the
toilet
we indirectly create a potty parody
concern so I try to be equal but what
does equal mean we can probably agree
that an equal statement or action
contains a one to one ratio
New York City’s potty priority law state
that female restrooms must have two
stalls for every one male bathroom stall
on adjacent male bathroom then there’s
Denver Denver’s Convention Center
created a unique restroom that has
partition walls so on the Denver
Convention Center hosts events that
cater more to one gender than another
the restroom size changes to reflect the
audience demographics I often advocate
that the restroom experience begins
outside the restroom door and I’m not
sure I’ve ever came across a person who
was raised in a home with a gendered
bathroom maybe the Denver Convention
Center is a metaphor for potty priority
and shared restrooms but is it possible
that the solution to shared restrooms
and potty priority is not forced policy
change but rather creative solutions
that are fun and engaging
I’m Michael Barbera I’m a researcher and
I love asking tough questions thank you
you
matter because the majority of us use
our cell phones on the toilet and most
of us don’t clean our phones in public
restrooms we fix our hair or makeup you
watch Netflix and we wash our hands
hopefully we take narcotics both legal
and illegal and the majority of us use
the stall that is faded from the
bathroom door because we believe it is
the cleanest our restroom experiences
are private and they’re common so if we
use the Resurrection for the same
experience and utilitarian purposes why
is the label on the door such a concern
public restrooms have a short yet
complex history the public restrooms are
less than 150 years old and back then
Rett public restrooms were male only and
today for the most part policy changed
and their male and female but the
original restroom the original public
restroom was male female gender-neutral
deer and dinosaur and when did trees
become the victim of human elimination
my first encounter with public restrooms
or my first memorable encounter with
restroom signage occurred on a United
States military base overseas on this
base there are public restroom trailers
all throughout the base and although
there are many I’m human and subjected
patterns from complacency I used the
same trailer every day I use the same
trailer so often that I began to ignore
the signs on the door then one morning I
go to use the restroom of the shower I
was the only person in the trailer so I
step outside the shower curtain to dry
off and for females walk in they stared
at me and I stared back at them we
stared at each other as if we owed one
another money hey you’re in the wrong
bathroom no no I’m not yes this became a
female latrine 2 days ago
there’s been a sign on the door for two
weeks Oh as restrooms changed so did the
law and we often say that technology is
too slow – or the laws too slow to
maintain pace with technology and to
some people indoor plumbing is mono
technology
I still call my father
for help with indoor plumbing I’ll share
another story and I promise for less of
a visualization when I first learned
about North Carolina’s House bill – also
known as the bathroom bill I wasn’t very
knowledgeable about bathroom policy so
when I first learned about the bathroom
bill that restricted people to use the
restroom associate with their gender
identified at birth my initial reaction
isn’t that already illegal then I
encountered a restroom that
discriminated one discriminated one
gender and not another
and also baffled and confused by the
design of this restroom that had to
figure out why it was done like that and
more importantly how people felt about
it
so I ceased all other research and don’t
head first into this phenomenon there
are some organizations that will label
one restroom as gender specific and the
other as gender-neutral I’ll give you an
example you’re walking to the restroom
and you approach two doors the door on
the left
is female the door on the right is male
and gender-neutral and the situations
often reversed male and female and
gender-neutral in concept this sounds
like it solves a utilitarian problem but
humans are utilitarian thinkers so I’ll
share a story from a college professor I
recently showed a college professor
arrest true a gender neutral restroom
placard and she said she would use the
restroom measure the same college
professor the female engineer neutral
placard and she declined the two
restrooms share the same meeting same
definition of the placard but yet two
different responses the utilitarian
response would have been to use the
restroom but the response was about the
perceived experience and then we took
that same scenario and we replicated
with 6000 participants when we showed
6,000 females the female and gender
neutral and gender neutral placards 89%
were more than comfortable with using
the female and gender-neutral version
again two different restroom signs two
different responses well how would males
feel in this situation when we showed
males the same placards but the male
versions males typically did not care
what the signage of the door said males
a very utilitarian they’ll walk in the
restroom
use the restroom and exit the restroom
but males did have one concern and it
wasn’t their restroom
the concern that most males had was the
female restroom males did not want
females sharing the female restroom
during the tense bathroom debate of 2015
when most people are confused about what
was going on in the bathroom I was
Marcus what was going on outside the
bathroom door when is the bathroom no
longer bathroom one is it a can a John a
lavatory of a tree nor a loo when is it
a powder room a potty or privy and when
is it a restroom a throne or water
closet with so many names
why are we so hung up on gendered
pronouns more so why are we so hung upon
using gender-neutral as the default
option for shared restrooms behavioral
science tells us that gender neutral is
not the preferred option by most people
so we have so many names to the restroom
let’s start using more fun names
although non-traditional restroom signs
could create a more enjoyable restroom
experience there isn’t a universal
answer they can probably all relate to a
time we’ve been to a restaurant that had
a foreign theme and we didn’t know which
bathroom door to use are we blokes or
are we Sheila’s traditional restroom
signs can be found nearly anywhere and
organizations are constantly seeking new
ways and more appropriate ways of
conforming to the non-binary gender
population so what would happen if we
took the traditional restroom sign and
reframe the message but let’s not
reframe the message to match the
transgender population let’s match
everyone and we just might nudge a new
normal or need default through behavior
change so we took the traditional
restroom placard with the traditional
male silhouette and the word gendered
below it and we showed it to males and
males were very comfortable to
expression design then we took the
opposite version took the female
silhouette and put gendered below it and
females again were very comfortable with
this design but then we thought would it
be possible to increase acceptance and
we’ll use to use if we removed the
silhouette completely from the restroom
placard so we created two more designs a
gender M and in gender deaf and we
showed these to males and females alike
against 6,000
participants each and again males and
females alike we’re extremely
comfortable and extremely likely to use
this restroom design then the moment of
truth how would this placard feel fair
for everyone if we had a shared version
so we showed the share version to people
who identified as male female non-binary
and transgender and the significant
majority were extremely comfortable with
this rationale design but as we got
closer to what we felt like was the
appropriate answer for a restroom design
that would work for everyone we realized
you know we don’t live in a perfect
world how would these wrestling designs
fare if children were involved so I want
you to imagine you’re at a concert and
your favorite artist is about to perform
you’re waiting in line for the restroom
and the line is long and it’s moving
slowly you’re anxious to get back to
your seats then you notice the restroom
for the opposite gender doesn’t have the
line how likely are you to use the
opposite genders restroom here’s what we
know we know that males are too scared
to go into the female restroom and we
know that females are likely to invade
the male restroom but are less
comfortable doing so
same scenario now you wait in line for
that restroom with a small child how
likely are you to use that how likely
are you to send a small child into that
restroom alone less than 1% of people
will have that child to enter that
restroom by themselves so then we tested
the all placard again and instead of 1%
we got 20% not the highest results but
greater than the previous 1% then we had
one more nudge up our sleeve to nudge
behavior change and get people to accept
shared restrooms when children are
involved the everyone placard the
everyone placard has consistently given
us the highest results of acceptance
comfort and willingness to use across
all gender identities in all situations
and scenarios especially with parents of
young children our perceptions of
restrooms are likely to change from
private restrooms to public restrooms
for example we use this we use the stall
that is furthest from the bathroom door
because we believe it is the cleanest so
if we’re all using the same stall is it
really the cleanest 85% of Americans
believe they had
exceptionally clean toothbrush
toothbrushes are recommended to be
stored seven feet from a toilet but in
America the average toothbrush the
toilet distance is a mere three and a
half feet and we all believe that we’re
pretty quick on the toilet but one in
four Americans will spend at least 60
minutes on the toilet each day so not
all restroom concerns are about
transgender individuals when we exploit
a Canas then a period of time on the
toilet
we indirectly create a potty parody
concern so I try to be equal but what
does equal mean we can probably agree
that an equal statement or action
contains a one to one ratio
New York City’s potty priority law state
that female restrooms must have two
stalls for every one male bathroom stall
on adjacent male bathroom then there’s
Denver Denver’s Convention Center
created a unique restroom that has
partition walls so on the Denver
Convention Center hosts events that
cater more to one gender than another
the restroom size changes to reflect the
audience demographics I often advocate
that the restroom experience begins
outside the restroom door and I’m not
sure I’ve ever came across a person who
was raised in a home with a gendered
bathroom maybe the Denver Convention
Center is a metaphor for potty priority
and shared restrooms but is it possible
that the solution to shared restrooms
and potty priority is not forced policy
change but rather creative solutions
that are fun and engaging
I’m Michael Barbera I’m a researcher and
I love asking tough questions thank you
you
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