Philoking.com

Do you want to know what it’s like to live inside my brain? Just the simple act of going to the bathroom requires a tremendous amount of thought.

I walk into a public bathroom at work and see this

Instead of just peeing and pretending not to notice there are other people in the bathroom like a normal person, (why do people do that?) I immediately think things like:

- Did they do research to the average amount of short people to tall people in office buildings?

- Is this ratio a standard? It seems like 2:1 is the most common.

- If this standard does exist, why do some bathrooms eschew it for a single height, to save money on pipe?

- Do normal people have problems peeing in the taller ones?

From there it just goes out of control. I continue thinking things like: If I were to put all floor urinals in, would they cost more or less? Did someone speak to cleaning companies and find out that the average cost of cleaning floor urinals is more than wall urinals? If so, why does anyone use them? Do they work better in places where they are likely to clean the bathroom with a hose?

I know they seem like silly things to be asking yourself when you need to pee, but that’s what it’s like when you design things for a living. You are constantly juggling aesthetics, cost, efficiency, user experience, durability, etc.

I design software, but unfortunately my brain doesn’t limit itself to thinking about only software. Something as simple as a urinal can send my brain into a spiral of questions and a sometimes hilarious desire to know why.

I’ll probably email some urinal manufacturers to ask why. Don’t you want to know?