Hostile design

"Take a public bench: Though its primary purpose is to give people a place to sit, it can also be used for sleeping, skate tricks, or even romantic entanglements. If such uses are deemed inappropriate, unpleasant design elements can be added to deter them. For example, strategically placed armrests can make sleeping uncomfortable, skating dangerous, and love-making gymnastic, thereby forcing "proper" use of the bench."



Or "a low wall with metal anti-skate bars affixed along the edges."



"This kind of design becomes problematic when humans aren't aware of it," Savić says, "Or when it's done for the pure purpose of profit with little benefit to society in general. It's especially problematic when it targets certain groups, like young people or the homeless." While Savić believes that unpleasant design is often inevitable, even useful in some cases, she thinks the notion that objects can solve problems is flawed. By attacking one problem with unpleasant design, other problems are often created, she says. She gives the example of pigeon spikes, which deter pigeons from landing on eaves and other structures. Though the spikes work well, they tend to concentrate birds in locations without spikes. It doesn't solve the root of the problem, it just moves it."

from: http://www.popsci.com/unpleasant-design