All projects: Gel, Jobs, Good Todo, Games, Uncle Mark, Blog, Bit Literacy
Broken: Hotel lobby design
Iris Bell sends in this cameraphone pic from a Sheraton lobby in New York.
See anything wrong with the lobby furniture?
The designers probably didn't have this use in mind... but by observing customers directly, it's pretty obvious how to improve the design.
They forgot to put the altar to Shera'aton, Goddess of Inexplicable Psuedo-Hospitality. See how lost and forlorn her worshippers appear, kneeling at the customary place! Also, chairs.
What *did* they have in mind? That people would just stand around staring at the nice plants?
This is classic Sheraton mentality. You can also find this problem at a number of NYC hotels. Come on people, give us some chairs!
Regards,
Rob Lawrence
http://www.battlecall.com
Mark,
Oh, that is painfully funny... and pathetic. If the hotel didn't provide chairs, when the staff saw this going on couldn't they go get a few from a conference room just for that little while?
Geez.
Thanks for posting it.
Regards,
Kelly
The thing that I notice is the person in the background with the laptop in his lap. It looks like people have a choice between having either a table or a chair!
Since when is a hotel lobby the appropriate place to work on your laptop? There is nothing wrong with this Sheraton. Clearly there are seats for people to sit and wait for those they may be meeting (ahem, the purpose of a hotel lobby if there is one). If you want to work, go to your office or the nice desk in your room!
Beth - you may have fallen into the same trap as the designer by making your assumptions.
I've been in hotel lobbies many times when my room isn't ready for me yet. If I'd just taken a taxi from the airport I don't have much of an option but to wait in the lobby with my luggage.
Alternatively my checkout time may have come already but the shuttle to pick me up hasn't.
In either case I'd certainly expect to have someplace to sit while I wait! This highlights the value of understanding your client's needs by understanding how your product or service is used by *them* - not how you would use it yourself.
Having just returned from a 3 week set of trips, I'm familiar with this scenario - many hotels have free wireless in the lobby, and paid internet in your room. Simple economics...
I've been in that hotel. Explanation for this scene: as a guest, your choices are (1) free wireless in the lobby only or (2) expensive LAN connections in the rooms. (Of course it seems weird to quibble about $20 internet access in a $500 room, but who says we're always rational?)
Chairs are expensive. Taller tables are not.
Established furniture and newer technology often clash. Horse stables and car garages had some competitive overlap for a time. Phone booths are a nearly a thing of the past. Sometimes it does get worse before it gets totally better. Like this picture