Placebo Buttons

Yesterday, while working on a group course project, one of the guys in my group mentioned placebo buttons. What a cool concept!! It’s basically buttons in the public/private space whose sole purpose are to give people a false sense of control. So for example, those walks buttons at pedestrian crossings may actually have no effect whatsoever except making pedestrians feel as if they are important too!

Other examples of placebo buttons:

– Elevator Buttons

– Tube Door Buttons

– Office Thermostat Controls