Talk:Review Piano Stairs

Reaction on review “The Piano Staircase” Original review by Vera Hendriks, reaction by Nandi Dmyszewicz

If I had to place this project into one of the Social Design Fields, I would choose for Gamification because the project changes people's behavior in a playful way. Instead of telling people what not to do, they encourage people to do the right thing by making it fun.

In my opinion this project has a lot positive sides to it. I think the strength of this project is that it really changed the behavior of the people, by choosing for the stairs instead of taking the elevator or escalator. I think it would be really hard to change this behaviour because most people at the station are in a hurry and use the easiest and fastest way to come somewhere, in that way it is really easy to choose for the unhealthy option, the escalator. People that are traveling are mostly focused on themselves and not really on the environment and other people, but this interactive project really changes that. I also think this project is really about participating and being a part of it, when you see somebody using this stairs you feel attracted to also use it because it looks fun to do. But also when nobody uses it, you probably will be curious to use it because it looks different from normal stairs. Altogether I think the piano stairs really have a positive influence on people, because It makes people move and interact more, and it cheers people up while starting or ending the day. The weaker aspect of the project can be that it maybe only will be interesting for a shorter period. People who are concerned about having a healthy lifestyle may keep using it but it is more difficult to persuade the other, not so motivated group. This group probably won't be interested anymore after a while. So if you want to keep their interest you should maybe change the look or the sound of the stairs once in a while (which makes it more expensive and difficult).

I feel like this project should be placed closer to allo-relational than auto-relational because the project is can't exsis and is not interesting without people participating in it, it is made for the people to change their behavior. The signature and personal perspective of the designer is not very contained in this project, the focus is more on the influence of the community on the artwork. I think this project should be placed on the digestive side. Although it wants to change behavior, it respects the current system and gives people the the option to choose for the stairs or the escalator.