Five experiments of the fun theory

Fun can change human behaviour for the better – a basic guide line of the Fun Theory, an initiative by Volkswagen in 2009 that set out to prove that people’s behaviour can be improved by making mundane activities funny. Below five experiments are outlined, providing us a glimpse of how Stockholm City applied the Fun Theory to encourage more physical activity and raise awareness for safe and clean environment – some of the best examples of how to bring together playfulness with decision making.

#1 Piano staircase

The video of the piano stairs on YouTube [1] went viral and has so far achieved millions of hits. It shows a staircase being transformed into a rea-life piano. Each step works like a piano key, with sensors so that people’s weight triggers the appropriate note. This action should encourage the commuters taking the stairs rather than the adjacent escalator. The result indicated 66% percent more people chose walking on the piano stairs.

#2 The world’s deepest waste bin

The world’s deepest bin [2] was designed to motivate people to throw the rubbish into a bin instead of littering in the public space. It is located in a random park in Stockholm city, equipped with an infrared device and a speaker. By throwing trash in the bin a deep sound appears giving the impression as if the rubbish has fallen a really long way down, almost into an endless black hole. Pedestrians tossing their waste were surprised by the unexpected sound. Some of them even peered into the bin to see if it was really as deep as the audible feedback indicated. The experiment resulted in a double amount of waste being thrown into the world’s deepest waste bin than into the “normal” one just a short distance nearby.

#3 Bottle bank arcade machine

The bottle bank arcade machine [3] was built and put near Södra station in Stockholm. To activate and play, one just needs to press the start button, wait for the lights on the top of the machine, throw bottles into the corresponding hole and then points will be collected. During the experiment the arcade machine was used by about 100 people just during one evening. Wihtin the same period, the nearby conventional bottle bank was used twice.

#4 The play belt

The play belt [4] was created by Nevana Stojanovic from Serbia. Her aim was to raise safety in the car by encouraging people to keep their safety belts on. How does it work? You sit in the car, follow the message on the screen, fasting your belt and only then you can use the entertainment system in the car. The idea is being tested in Sweden in the hope it could be applied to all vehicles in the future. Lars Öberg, professor of traffic psychology from Uppsala University, has shown openness for the idea:

“We have searched for a long time for various ways to give a positive reinforcement in traffic, so that of course makes Volkswagen’s fun theory very interesting. My experience of children tells me we ought to respond to children in different ways and in that case, I can see this type of equipment working.” [4]

The spokesman of Volkswagen in Stockholm expressed the same approval opinion:

“…If we can stimulate people to drive an environmental car or drive safer then that’s fantastic. And if this can help save a life then that’s worth more than anything.” [4]

#5 The speed camera lottery

The basic idea of the speed camera lottery [5] is to encourage drivers to keep the speed limits by making it fun to do it. The traffic camera includes speed-capture technologies and has two functions. One is to photograph the speeders and issue a citation with the proceeds going into a cash pot. Those cars that keep the speed limit will also be recorded. They will automatically enter in a lottery where they will win some of that money from the speeders.

Note: This article is based on The Fun Theory

References

King, Simon., Chang, Kuen. (2016). Understanding Industrial Design. Sebastopol: O’Reilly Media, Inc.

Thefuntheory. (2009). Thefuntheory.com. [online] Available at: http://www.thefuntheory.com/

[1] Rolighetsteorin, 2009. Piano stairs – TheFunTheory.com – Rolighetsteorie.se. [online video] Available at: https://youtu.be/2lXh2n0aPyw [Accessed 1 March 2018]

[2] Rolighetsteorin, 2009. The world’s deepest bin – TheFunTheory.com – Rolighetsteorie.se. [online video] Available at: https://youtu.be/cbEKAwCoCKw [Accessed 1 March 2018]

[3] Rolighetsteorin, 2009. Bottle Bank Arcade – TheFunTheory.com – Rolighetsteorie.se. [online video] Available at: https://youtu.be/zSiHjMU-MUo [Accessed 1 March 2018]

[4] Rolighetsteorin, 2009. The Play Belt – The Fun Theory. [online video] Available at: https://youtu.be/0AbQSE4ZKvk [Accessed 1 March 2018]

[5] Rolighetsteorin, 2010. The Speed Camera Lottery – The Fun Theory [online video] Available at: https://youtu.be/iynzHWwJXaA [Accessed 1 March 2018]

Keywords

The Fun Theory, Volkswagen, piano stairs, arcade stairs, human’s behaviour, DDB Stockholm, social experiments, environment, safety, clean, public space