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There was a famous fire in a mall where most of the people who died were in one particular restaurant. It's because they all tried to pay before they left, the

There was a famous fire in a mall where most of the people who died were in one particular restaurant. It's because they all tried to pay before they left, the lost time killed them. The idea haunts me because it was 100% the correct thing to do, they had no idea how bad the fire would be. I even know this design flaw but I still would queue to pay before leaving if a fire alarm went off in a mall.

manigandham 8y ago
When there is a fire alarm, the only 100% correct thing to do is evacuate the area immediately.
- aaron695 8y ago
  I have never seen that happen in real life. So you can continue to blame people for not understanding the design or you can design systems around how people actually react. "Delay in response to a fire in public buildings is likely to depend on the nature of the present activities in which the individual is engaged. For example a delay is probably more likely when the activities have a clear, expected sequence of events each of which lasts for a few minutes, such as having a meal. The sequence of ordering, eating, paying, for instance, is rarely broken in a conventional restaurant and so people anticipate completing this sequence before they move on to other activities." http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/9228/1/CANTER_159.pdf http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/9228/1/CANTER_159.pdf People don't take their luggage from airplanes during emergencies to be assholes. They do it because the 100 times they left a airplane before this is what they have done. Stop blaming people for bad design.
- perl4ever 8y ago
  But this is in some sense a failure to learn from experience. Every experience of a fire alarm is non-fatal except the last one.
Symbiote 8y ago
The fire alarm went off during one of my final exams at university. Immediately the invigilator shouted "stay seated, we wait for confirmation", but within a few seconds a security guard ran into the room and shouted "please leave immediately". There was a fire, but I assume this process was in place to take account of people trying to disrupt the examination. I don't know how long the invigilator would have waited for security. The invigilators tried to find everyone outside and keep us together without discussion, but that was unrealistic in Central London, there is too little open space. Fire fighters extinguished the fire within about half an hour, and we finished the exam.
- slededit 8y ago
  I was in a line at immigration in an airport when the fire alarm went off. Everyone pretended it wasn't happening. I remember thinking everyone in here is dead if its real - Imagine the stampede that would form.

manigandham 8y ago

When there is a fire alarm, the only 100% correct thing to do is evacuate the area immediately.

aaron695 8y ago
I have never seen that happen in real life. So you can continue to blame people for not understanding the design or you can design systems around how people actually react. "Delay in response to a fire in public buildings is likely to depend on the nature of the present activities in which the individual is engaged. For example a delay is probably more likely when the activities have a clear, expected sequence of events each of which lasts for a few minutes, such as having a meal. The sequence of ordering, eating, paying, for instance, is rarely broken in a conventional restaurant and so people anticipate completing this sequence before they move on to other activities." http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/9228/1/CANTER_159.pdf http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/9228/1/CANTER_159.pdf People don't take their luggage from airplanes during emergencies to be assholes. They do it because the 100 times they left a airplane before this is what they have done. Stop blaming people for bad design.
perl4ever 8y ago
But this is in some sense a failure to learn from experience. Every experience of a fire alarm is non-fatal except the last one.

Symbiote 8y ago

The fire alarm went off during one of my final exams at university. Immediately the invigilator shouted "stay seated, we wait for confirmation", but within a few seconds a security guard ran into the room and shouted "please leave immediately". There was a fire, but I assume this process was in place to take account of people trying to disrupt the examination. I don't know how long the invigilator would have waited for security. The invigilators tried to find everyone outside and keep us together without discussion, but that was unrealistic in Central London, there is too little open space. Fire fighters extinguished the fire within about half an hour, and we finished the exam.

slededit 8y ago
I was in a line at immigration in an airport when the fire alarm went off. Everyone pretended it wasn't happening. I remember thinking everyone in here is dead if its real - Imagine the stampede that would form.