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"If you design a car," ID professor Bruce Hannah used to tell us at Pratt, "someone will use it to rob a bank." The context: A discussion of how we industrial designers should (or shouldn't) be concerned with how end users might misuse things that we designed. Hannah's point was that it's impossible to account for every scenario.

An example of this is NYC's new, free LinkNYC WiFi kiosks, which I first saw popping up downtown in July (at left, the first one I saw). I was excited, as I felt our city was finally moving into the future. In addition to being a WiFi hotspot, the kiosks (designed by Antenna Design) have charging ports, a built-in tablet for web browsing, the ability to make free phone calls and a 911 button.

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How Would You Imagine These Would be Used? 

Here's what I'd pictured:

- Commuters needing a quick phone charge stopping to plug in for a few minutes

- Commuters using the tablet to find MTA-delay workarounds

- Tourists punching up Google Maps to get their bearings

- Groups of younger people using the WiFi to show each other stuff on their phones

- Each of these interactions would last a few minutes only

- People of both sexes would use the kiosks

It's possible that all of those scenarios are happening as the kiosks are being rolled out across the city. But what I observe every morning on my walk down Lafayette, where I pass four of the kiosks, is different. 

You've Got Male

Here's what I've observed on that stretch of Lafayette:

- All of the kiosk users are male, ranging from their 20s to 40s

- Most appear to be homeless

- Sometimes end users plug headphones in and dance and sing around the kiosk

- End users tend to "camp out" at the kiosk. One homeless fellow had surrounded it with his belongings and was sitting with his back against the kiosk. Another had brought bags and a stool that placed him at eye level with the screen as he browsed the web

That the majority of users of the Lafayette kiosks are homeless is not surprising; there is a Rescue Mission on the corner of Lafayette and White, smack dab in the middle of the kiosks, and many homeless men queue up there each morning to get a hot meal. It also makes sense that the majority of users here would be homeless, as they tend not to have smartphones with internet functionality and by definition do not have home internet access.

What I didn't realize is that this large homeless user base would prevent (in my limited, admittedly anecdotal observation) women from using the kiosks. Since July I've not seen a single female use the kiosks on Lafayette, and I pass the kiosks each morning. In New York there have been widely circulated news stories about homeless men attacking women with everything from paving stones to human feces, so it makes sense, from a safety perspective, that women would avoid areas or even kiosks deemed to be the domain of the homeless.

Jack of All Trades

Even more unfortunately, bad behavior at kiosks across the city has been reported. I shouldn't be surprised that, in a city where me and all of my native friends have multiple stories about seeing guys jack off in crowded subway cars, this bad behavior would involve guys jacking off while watching porn at the kiosks. In public. In front of kids.

From the Daily News:

On Monday, the police arrested a man who was seen masturbating at a kiosk at E. 31st St. in Manhattan over the weekend.

City Councilman Corey Johnson, whose district includes parts of Times Square, said porn watching and encampments around the kiosks were a problem "instantly."

[Bronx Borough President Ruben] Diaz said they were also a problem in the Bronx. "People were camping out and stationed in front of these kiosks viewing adult content," he said. "That was not the intent."

From the New York Times:

Councilman Corey Johnson, a Democrat whose district encompasses Greenwich Village, Chelsea and part of Midtown, said police officials had asked for the removal of "several problematic kiosks" along Eighth Avenue. He said he had observed people watching pornography on the kiosk screens with children nearby.

"These kiosks are often monopolized by individuals creating personal spaces for themselves, engaging in activities that include playing loud explicit music, consuming drugs and alcohol, and the viewing of pornography," Mr. Johnson wrote in a letter last month to officials of the city and LinkNYC.

Yesterday LinkNYC, the consortium that provides the kiosks, responded by announcing modifications. "Based on user and community feedback, we removed the tablet web browser to curb long-term use of the kiosks as we continually find new ways to improve your Link experience."

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What Would You Do?

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So: If you were in charge of making the decisions for LinkNYC, what changes would you make to the system? It seems to solve the problem of providing free internet for homeless folks that do not have it, but if that in turn prevents women from using the kiosks, what ought to be done?

(By the bye, for readers who are not sympathetic to the homeless: No judgment, as there's no law stating that you have to be kind or have empathy for the unfortunate, your views are your views. But the argument I most often hear is "I don't want my tax dollars paying to provide for someone who doesn't work," and I have to point out that the LinkNYC kiosks are not taxpayer-funded. They are provided free of charge by the consortium, supported by advertising, and are projected to add $500 million to city coffers over 12 years.)