Usability: Pedestrian Crosswalk Signals
Usability of minor little things can make a major improvement in our lives by improving the information available to us.
The simple crosswalk signal is a great example of where you can make a minor change and improve usability considerably.
At present most signals go something like this:
Solid “WALK” then a steady flashing “DON’T WALK” with a solid “DON’T WALK” just before the traffic light is due to turn.
How can we make it better?
Take the “DON’T WALK” flashing - at present it flashes at a steady rate so one doesn’t have any idea how soon the light is going to change, people do “run it” and get caught in the middle, driver’s can’t use the information to plan if the light is going to change to take their foot off the gas and preemptively brake.
Why not make it so the “DON’T WALK” flashes slowly at first and as it gets closer to the light changing make it flash faster and faster. A slowly flashing signal people means people wouldn’t slow down but for a rapidly flashing one people would. Less gas burned by avoiding accelerating only to brake a second later.
It’d save gas and make things a little less stressful. As an added bonus, you wouldn’t have to replace the signals themselves (the other option the digital count down timer requires a replacement) but rather re-program the lights to change the flash rate.