#08 What if Public Transport Could Alleviate Loneliness?

A social interaction is an exchange between two or more individuals and is a building block of society. Public transport has the potential to connect strangers and combat social isolation as it’s a great way to interact with strangers since it’s probably the only time we encounter others outside of our communities of family, friends and colleagues. It creates an environment where face to face social interactions are likely to happen but not in the way public transport is currently designed in my opinion.

For people to socialize, it is necessary that they have something in common. Identifying that commonality between two people to spark conversation is complex but if done right it, it could help them in many ways. Commuting has been found to be one of the life's least enjoyable activities around the world for some people it can also be a major cause of stress due to its unpredictability and a sense of loss of control. Commuters usually look unhappy, stressed, burned out and often frustrated from problems like delays or traffic. But we as a group discussed the times when there has been fun and enjoyment. For example, for me it would be that time when the train driver kept cracking jokes and making us laugh. John, my team member, discussed how he was watching Friends on his way home from a night-out with a complete stranger. As we spend so much time on public transport, surrounded by so many people, can we not encourage social interaction and ultimately improve mental well-being that way?

An initial idea that came to my mind was the idea of having buttons on the seats to encourage people to talk to each other. When the button is pushed, it turns green which means you’re available to chat, otherwise it just stays red. So if anybody on the train wants to connect or have a casual conversation with anyone, this way they could let people know that they're available to chat. Here's a representation of the idea that I created.

Like I said this was during the initial stages and the first thing that came to my mind so at that point I didn't think if could work or not. I was just giving my teams ideas to get brains started. Later John shared an article about TubeChat - a short range messaging app designed to work underground. Badges were being distributed inside the tubes which read: “Have a chat with your fellow travellers. Wear this badge to let others know you’re interested. You’ll benefit from a daily chat. Start using it today!” The idea behind this was to initiate conversation between people and to use technology to connect people and bring them closer. But this campaign didn’t receive the feedback it was expecting to get because people didn’t really approve of the idea of talking to random people for no reason and this instantly reminded me of my idea. So I read up more articles on why people avoid talking to strangers on public transport and found that you can't force people to talk to you, especially if it sounds like a lecture about how they really ought to, they will never talk. Secondly what happens when they press it and still nobody comes to talk to them?This certainly didn't sound like a solid idea that we could go forward with because of the implications. But then I reminded myself of this one time a train driver  made an amusing apology about the train being delayed which made almost everyone on the train laugh out loud and I remember I ended up having a nice chat with the pperson sitting next to me. We've got to understand that not everybody is super friendly, it takes time for people to open up. We're so used to staying guarded on the train but sometimes all it takes is a smile or a hello to make the person sitting next to you feel relaxed. You know never you might just make someone's day. In addition to this, John also shared a story about the time he ended up watching Friends with the person sitting next him after a night out for drinks. This made us think of an idea about showing videos on a screen to communicate train announcements or delays. I made a little video of what we had in mind and added that to our Miro board by combining one of my illustrations (people playing games on the station) and a video that I found on YouTube of a train conductor impersonating a famous boxer.

But this made me realise that people on the train might look closed off but they're always up for a bit of entertainment. We often see people playing games while on public transport and I thought to myself, could we encourage interaction this way? I discussed this with my teams members to hear what they think about it - Introducing games in trains and other public spaces to initiate conversation and social interaction. They really appreciated this idea because who doesn't like having fun? The idea of having games in public transport made sense to me/us because at the end of the day we want to see a world which is connected, not just through technology, but through emotional connections as well. A world where people could have fun and make them forget about their worries for a little bit. We  discussed the notion of using games to encourage interaction and the following questions came up:

• What types of games we want to play?
• Touch based or gesture based? Considering the long term impact C-19 will have on people's lives (i.e. washing hands more, - being more weary of what they touch in public)
• Will the games be played with others in the station? Multiplayer games
• Will there be teams?
• Who is this directed at? Old people? Children? Young adults?
• Would people actually use this?

We decided to introduce a variety of digital games for all ages so that everyone feels comfortable. Just to name a few; Chess, Scrabble, Suduko, Mario, Candy Crush, Memory Blocks etc. Also considering the COVID situation around the world thought about touch sensitive disposable gloves that could be used to access games. The idea was to introduce multiplayer games as well to encourage social interaction so that people are motivated to play with each other. After a long tiring day at work or school, playing games can act as a stress reliever and something as little as this could help you feel better, mentally and physically. Playing a game with a stranger is far easier than having to start a conversation out of the blue – this will help initiate conversation and social interaction between them. Playing games have also proven to act as a stress and anger reliever. This will help them relax and make their day a little better. All of us shared different design ideas in the next session and we decided that any idea should ultimately encourage social interaction as well as promote fun, humour and/or enjoyment. Also, that we didn’t want to limit ourselves to the London Underground infrastructure.

Here are some of the illustrations that I made which made it easy for my group to understand what I had in mind.

Information board showing Mario inviting people to play a game with him. 

-Digital screens displaying different games at the train station.  

-People playing games while they wait for the train to start moving.

-Introducing arcade games inside the train to entertain people

-Some train carriages can just have digital screens in place of windows and no chairs so there's more room.

-Changing the interior of the train
-Something from the future
-Moving away from the current interior design

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