RESEARCH
STAGE
In the scope of this project we’ve
combined a questionnaire for
the general public that has everyday
experiences of walking through
the security frames. We made it in two
versions — one in English and one
in Russian for those uncomfortable
with writing in a different language.
Then we used our team’s network of
friends and fellow students to spread
the questionnaire, using our social
media accounts for maximal reach. Presence
While it’s good for us as designers
to have personal experience with
the target of our design, it is crucial
for the design process to involve
the general public which at the end of
the day will be affected by the changes
we decide to implement. So the main
goal of our questionnaire was to find
some popular opinions and collect
some statistics to refer to in the later
steps of the design process. Safety?
Outreach Public Opinion
We received an unexpectedly high
number of responses and it was
versatile enough in the time we were
given for us to draw many useful
conclusion from. It is clearly seen that
we had almost equal amount of male
and female interviewees of different
ages and occupations, most of them
from Russia. One of the main question in the form
was about people’s worst experience
with the security scanning frames
and we received quite a few valuable
points from those who face these
problems in their everyday life.
Many of the points highlighted
were already on our list but some of
the responses stood out so it was a
This data from our questionnaire
shows how deeply integrated are
the frames in to our everyday lives —
we see them in subway and malls,
train stations and airports, museums
and stadiums — all kinds of places.
Most people have to walk through
them two to three times a day on
average, some more than 6 times in
one day.
According to the results of
the questionnaire, 70% don’t feel
safer in the presence of the security
scanning devices and more than
a quarter of the interviewees feel
intimidated by the guards standing by
the frames, which is a big downside.
This way the level of comfort drops
while the levels of prejudice and
stress rise.
insightful experience. Here are some
of the answers:
1. I also remember how I entered the
frame on Leningradskiy railway
station. The “roller” for bags was
placed on some hight so my mom
could not place her bag on it and
the guards refused to help her.
2. The frames were placed right in
front of the entrance and people
were packed so everyone tried
to squeeze through the frame at
the same time, so yeah, it wasn’t
really good.
3. To be honest, I also feel anger
every time I’m in a line for
a frame. Even if I’m not in a hurry,
I feel uncomfortable because lots
of people are concentrated in one
place and it brings lots of stress. :(
4. I accidentally took another
person’s phone. I had to put it
on the table when going through
and didn’t pay attention that
the woman after me had the same
model so I accidentally stole hers.
5. I had to walk through the same
frame
four
times,
taking
something new out every time
and the guard just kept telling
me to remember what i left in my
pockets. I really wasted time.
6. Every time I go to the car station
there’s a huge crowd that is
created just because of these
frames and it spends a lot of
questionnaire analysis
time for what seems like nothing
useful.
7. I had to go to the same building
3 times because I was looking
for someone, and every time I
had to open my bag for a security
to briefly look through it. It was
more annoying than funny.
8. In the mall the guard spend
a lot of time putting me through
these frames again and again as
something was sending it off. The
whole time air was filled with this
AWFUL sound, which was really
annoying and loud.
9. I had to empty out my whole bag
in the club on the table because
of one tiny key. Had to take out
everything including hygienic
products and contraceptives.
One of the main trends
we saw in these results
is that many people
take more offence
with the people who
operate the scanning
frames rather than
from the devices itself.
We thought it was
a really interesting
direction to dive deeper
into. Another trend was
the inefficiency of the
tables where you have
to put your personal
belongings, which is
more in the physical
design area.