Who Do You Trust

By nature, I tend to be a trusting person.  But as a good (if I do say so myself) user experience practitioner, I have developed some pretty good instincts for imagining a wide range of possible behaviors when someone interacts with a design.  And the ones most important to consider in design is when events might go seriously wrong.  I call this my fantasy suspicion mode.

What I would like to know is which of these you think are real problems. And which ones are my suspicions just good food for thought.

·         I brought my car in for an oil change and emissions inspection today.  When it was done, I walked outside and there was my car, completely unattended, with the keys in the ignition. Anyone could have casually got in and drove away.  Corollas might not be glamorous, but they are one of the most stolen cars because the parts are the easiest to fence.

·         I brought in a case of empty beer bottles (Stone IPA if you must know) to the redemption center located in the back of my neighborhood liquor store.  They have automated machines that you insert your cans and bottles and out pops a ticket you bring inside the store for your refund. The store also uses that area to store cases of juice and soda.  It is completely unattended.  Anyone could walk inside, grab a case of their favorite beverage, and walk out.  It abuts the parking lot, so this person would be gone before anyone was the wiser.  If someone is willing to go to the trouble of returning a bunch of cans and bottles for nickel refunds, are they (me) the type who might be tempted?  If it was beer . . . .

·         UPS, Fedex, and the postal service all leave packages in the mailroom in my apartment building. We have tiny mailboxes, so they are just lying there on the table.  Almost every day there is something from Amazon. I wonder if any of these get pinched. I saw a sign there once that someone’s mail order medicine went missing, but it could have been a mix-up.  I’ve seen packages from Macy’s, Maybelline, Fantasy Gaming, and lots of other attractive sources.  Would you ever be tempted?

I could go on but I think this gives you the idea.  I am sure none of you would ever engage in any of these.  But am I crazy that of the 100s of people who are exposed to these temptations every day, it is too much to ask that even 1% or 1/10 of a percent might?