Polite Devices for Impolite Moments

Date

27 SEP 2025 03 OCT 2025

Week

Week 2

Unit

Final Major Project

Brief

Design an intervention that reshapes user-to-user interaction in public spaces.

In short

Explored satirical “polite devices” for rude audience moments.
Built three quick prototypes (sound filter, phone-dimming cloth, anti-lean support).
Feedback: push the discomfort further and test the concepts with users.

Key Question

How can I communicate this discomfort directly, yet without disturbing others?

I also wondered whether people genuinely feel ‘sorry’ when their behaviour is pointed out. For example, at a theatre in London, the person sitting behind me whispered along to every song throughout the show. It was clear she was a passionate fan, but I had not come to hear her sing. Even when I turned around and gave a subtle signal, she did not recognise that anything was wrong.

This led me to imagine a device that intentionally exaggerates these irritating situations, as if to say, “I’ve had to bring this because of you.”

Fictional Products

I was reminded of an old Korean advert in which a girl dramatically uses a clamp to close a man’s spread legs on the metro. Although the device was fictional, the idea of a “plausible tool” created a strong sense of public resonance.

A Korean fake advert: a clip targeting “manspreading” on the subway was presented as if it were a real product. Image Credit: Pantech Sky; Innocean

A Korean fake advert: a clip targeting “manspreading” on the subway was presented as if it were a real product. Video Credit: Pantech Sky; Innocean

Inspired by this, I imagined fictional products for discourteous theatre-goers, presented as if they were actually for sale. I felt that shared frustrations could be turned into satire and humour to support the project’s direction.

Crazy 8’s

To expand the ideas, I conducted a Crazy 8’s session. Early ideas—shaped by the theme of ‘seat improvement’—focused on protecting seats or exchanging objects between them. Later, wearable forms showed more potential, and I quickly developed three prototype concepts.

Ran a Crazy 8s session to generate ideas for devices responding to rude audience behaviour. Image Credit: Author

Developed three simple low-fidelity prototype ideas. Image Credit: Author

Prototype Version 1

I created three prototypes, ranging from devices worn by the user to devices intended for the person causing the disturbance.

Front-Facing Headset
Designed for those sensitive to whispering or side conversations, this headset filters sound so that only the audio from the stage or screen is emphasised.

A front-directed headset that blocks surrounding noise and lets you hear only what’s ahead (stage/screen). Photo Credit: Author

Photo Credit: Author

Phone-Dimming Cloth
When a bright phone screen becomes distracting, this net-like cloth can be lightly tossed as a gentle warning.

A cloth that covers the phone to prevent unnecessary phone use. Photo Credit: Author

Photo Credit: Author

Anti-Leaning Support

Attached to the seatback, this device encourages an upright posture to reduce blocked sightlines caused by leaning forward.

A restraint device that prevents unnecessary movement and blocking others’ view. Photo Credit: Author

Photo Credit: Author

Additional Ideas

I also imagined presenting these prototypes as if they were official theatre merchandise, displayed like genuine products.

Other ideas included exaggerating small discourteous acts and issuing penalty tickets, or pointing out specific areas in a weather-forecast-like format to make the message less direct and less confrontational.

Extending the concept to public transport, I considered a touch-activated “Excuse-Me Shield” that says “excuse me” on behalf of the user—mirroring the automated politeness we often use in crowded spaces.

Ultimately, the core issue may be the absence of small, everyday apologies. Designing communication around apology could be another meaningful direction for this project.

Generated additional ideas: selling via a theatre merch booth; issuing fines; indirect warnings by mentioning specific zones (like a weather forecast); and an “apology interaction” wearable linked to mechanical, everyday apologies. Image Credit: Author

Feedback & Reflection

Gathered feedback on comfort, functionality, and improvements through user testing. Photo Credit: Author

Photo Credit: Author

Rapidly prototyping the ideas helped me understand the project direction much more clearly. I questioned whether conceptual design also requires user testing, and concluded that it does.

Feedback suggested keeping the current playful tone, while pushing the ideas further. Examples included decorating a spiked device in pink or creating an exaggerated Elizabethan-collar-style device to add humorous social cost to the behaviour. It could also be possible to restrict phone use by applying a polarising filter. From a critical design perspective, visualising social pressure and embarrassment—“If you do this, you will face this absurd consequence”—was considered a powerful approach.

Overall, the initial prototypes were viewed as a strong starting point, and exploring even more uncomfortable devices could strengthen the project further. I plan to continue developing more daring concepts in this direction.

Reference

Bakhtin, M.M. 1984, Rabelais and His World, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Dunne, A. & Raby, F. 2013, Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Frye, N. 1957, Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Griffin, D. 1994, Satire: A Critical Reintroduction, University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
Winner, L. 1980, ‘Do artifacts have politics?’, Daedalus, vol. 109, no. 1, pp. 121–136. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024652