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Comment by fiftyacorn | Hacker News Reader

the blue toilet isnt bad design - its used to stop people injecting drugs in public toilets

Gordan Savičić and Selena Savić, co-editors of the book Unpleasant Design, are quick to point out that unpleasant designs are not failed designs, but rather successful ones in the sense that they deter certain activities by design.

I don't think anything in this article is designed "poorly" and I don't think the author meant to convey that the design was bad - the designs of these objects just have a goal of being unpleasant. If your goal is to design something unpleasant, and you succeed, I would say that is a good design.

I think you maybe just skimmed over the article. They didn't state that something was designed "poorly".

We have them in the bathrooms of our math department too (on classrooms' floors). Guess math students have heroin problems.

Or people that are not students are entering the math department to inject drugs on the toilet.

Edit: For who ever downvoted this - it isn't uncommon. In the Technical University of Vienna 15 years ago blue lights were installed on toilets exactly because of this. There were a lot of drug addicts in a nearby park that used the Universities toilets for injecting. (because they are free to use)

i would suggest reading the article

It doesn't stop anyone, just pushes them elsewhere. The real solution is safe injection sites.

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