big bruvva's watching the designa

I'm not here to bore you with the details, but I've had to make several trips to hospital over the weekend. And that's where I met the DESIGNA (actually, he's the ticket machine that controls the barrier that lets you out of the car park). Perhaps his name is Dave, as in davethedesigna.

If ever you want to find an example of bad design, just head for your local hospital (well, if you're in the UK that is: I imagine the Swiss do things slightly differently).

So let me tell you about my friend the DESIGNA. Remember, you can't get out of this car park unless you've paid the parking fee and got the ticket with the magnetic strip that you then have to feed into the DESIGNA while you're sat behind the wheel of your car with your seat belt on (remember, you're in a hospital, so safety's at the forefront of your mind). That's always difficult enough, isn't it? Getting your car aligned so that you can feed the ticket into the machine.

But hospitals (or at least this one) like to make it just that much more difficult. Because they've decided that the exit lane should be at an exact right angle to the DESIGNA. Which means that you have to make a 90-degree turn within the length of your car. Not easy at the best of times; least of all when you've just paid a visit to the hospital and are probably under stress.

So it comes as no surprise that many people manage to hit poor DESIGNA (and his mate on the right) with their cars, as they struggle to execute that tight turn. Which is why they have to be protected by that mini crash barrier: set, quite helpfully, at 12 inches above the ground. Perfectly placed, that is, so that you can't see it from behind the wheel of your car.

Things are bad enough for DESIGNA himself. But his poor mate on the right comes off even worse: presumably because you have to navigate yourself around the car already struggling to feed their ticket into DESIGNA 1. So the chances of getting out without hitting the machine as well as the barrier would seem to pretty slim, based upon the evidence.

Now you'd think that would be an innocent enough observation to make, wouldn't you. I don't have a grievance; I haven't hit DESIGNA or his crash barrier (hey, I've passed my advanced driving test, don't you know). I'm just pondering why somebody would plan out a car park without employing enough common sense to realise that things would be so much easier if the machines were approached head on. It's hardly rocket science, is it? But oh no, my friends, it seems that such thoughts are not allowed.

Just as I'm getting back into my car after taking these pictures, a disembodied voice booms from DESIGNA: "Did you just take a photograph of that machine?". "Yes" I replied, truthfully. "You can't do that, it's not allowed, you'll have to drive round to security immediately". "I didn't know I was breaking the law" I said. "Well you are" said DESIGNA, "it's against relugations [sic] mate. We've got your registration."

Well, I didn't drive to security and now I'm expecting a knock at the door at any minute.

I may, or may not, be back - it all depends upon the DESIGNA.

Comments

[Stef]

You weren't breaking the law, of course, that's utter tosh typical of security guards who don't know what they're talking about. The only laws I can think of that would even be vaguely close to applying would be:

If they were to have 'no photography' as a condition of entry you'd be trespassing if you broke this condition, though this doesn't give them any rights to confiscate or damage your camera, or force you to delete images. Can't say I've seen any hospitals with restrictions on photography, though it's common for museums.

They may use the 'National Security" excuse. As far as I'm aware hospitals aren't listed as a prohibited place in the Official Secrets Act, though they could always try to get you with a stop and search under the Terrorism Act (only police have the power to do this, not private security guards). However, I really can't see how taking pictures of a car park ticket machine would be information likely to be useful to a terrorist, so that's not likely either, though it's being used more frequently as a means to harass people taking photos these days.

Here's a handy guide to your rights as a photographer in Britain:
http://www.sirimo.co.uk/ukpr.php

[Ben]

John Sorrell has done some brilliant work in this area.

In fact this quote comes from his Joined Up Design For Health report; an ambulance driver said, "One of the biggest problems is space to turn. We get obstructed by other vehicles dropping patients off, or by police vehicles."

A better design might save a few lives there.

And you must change the blog to davidthedesigna.