How to avoid the "local elevator" problem?

Question

I live in a high-rise apartment building in New York. Our building has four resident elevators which each serve every residential floor. (An additional fifth elevator (physically separated from the four described herein) serves as a freight elevator for movers, contractors, and building staff.)

However, "elevator #1" is special - it is the only one of the four that can reach the rooftop, as well as the only one of the four that can reach the parking garage in the basement. It is also slightly larger in size than the other 3 elevators, to accommodate wheelchair-using residents and strollers.

As such, the elevator banks on each floor have been outfitted with two elevator call panels - the one in the center of the bank (panel "B") can call any of the four elevators, while the buttons on the panel next to elevator 1 (panel "A") specifically call only elevator 1:

          1               2                 3               4      
    ┌─────┬─────┐   ┌─────┬─────┐     ┌─────┬─────┐   ┌─────┬─────┐
 A  │     │     │   │     │     │  B  │     │     │   │     │     │
┌─┐ │     │     │   │     │     │ ┌─┐ │     │     │   │     │     │
│▲│ │     │     │   │     │     │ │▲│ │     │     │   │     │     │
│▼│ │     │     │   │     │     │ │▼│ │     │     │   │     │     │
└─┘ │     │     │   │     │     │ └─┘ │     │     │   │     │     │
    │     │     │   │     │     │     │     │     │   │     │     │
    │     │     │   │     │     │     │     │     │   │     │     │
    └─────┴─────┘   └─────┴─────┘     └─────┴─────┘   └─────┴─────┘

A problem commonly arises (especially during peak times) that residents will walk by both panels and select their desired direction of travel on both, even if they are intending to go to a floor which is serviced by all 4 elevators. This becomes a challenge when those riding in elevator #1 are now stuck stopping at every floor in which another resident has pressed a button on the leftmost panel, whether or not the resident has already boarded one of the other three elevators headed in their direction. In these peak periods, this can easily add 2-3 additional minutes to a resident's travel time, effectively becoming the "local" elevator (as opposed to the "express" - for anyone who's ridden the subway, you'll certainly know the difference).

How can residents be guided to use the special panel ("A") as intended (only when intending to ride elevator #1)?

Answer 1

Replace the panel A with buttons “to rooftop” and “to garage” instead of “up” and “down”. Now elevator 1 is reserved for special floors and most people use elevators 2-4.

Answer 2

On further thought, another solution could be to implement a singular, digital wall panel where users can indicate to which specific floor they are intending to go, much like the ones found in many newer high-rise office buildings and hotels:

^{Original image by Access Matters on Flickr, used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.}

Once the floor is selected, the main computer decides which elevator is most appropriate to handle the request based on capacity, proximity, and ultimately whether a specific elevator can service the requested floor or not.

While I don't have access to any specific figures, I would imagine this is more cost-prohibitive than other solutions, and wouldn't make sense in many scenarios similar to the one posed above.

Answer 3

In an office building where I worked, they solved a similar problem by making panel A a bit less obvious than panel B. Panel B was right out in the open, on the wall between two of the elevators, facing the lobby.

Panel A was located in the kind of door jamb space of elevator 1, perpendicular and right next to the elevator doors.

Answer 4

My thoughts would be to consolidate both sets of buttons into a single panel and draw focus to the primary action buttons.

---

• Roof

• UP

• DOWN

• Car Park

---

Answer 5

This is a people problem.

This can be fixed by using some scotch tape and a piece of paper which reads:

Please use this panel only if you need roof or basement access, or need extra space for a wheelchair or other large belongings.

Thank you for your consideration.

Answer 6

The variant:

If this is not clear - this is bad solution.

Comments:

1. Of course this is just a mockup.
2. Add accessibility icon at Panel A as most people respect this mark and will not use marked buttons.
3. Add notice to Panel B for rooftop and garage to make clear what to do - explicit allowance to use Panel A appropriate buttons.
4. Panel A button pairs Up and Rooftop as well as Down and Garage are electronically the same, so only panel should require upgrade but not whole elevator schematics.

Answer 7

The heart of the problem is that people going to every floor except the roof & basement will on average get better service by pressing both buttons. Any modification needs to remove that incentive, or remove the ability of inappropriate users to "double call".

For the floors other than lobby, I would make the selectors mutually exclusive: pressing a call button for elevator 1 cancels the other call (if any) and disables the other call button until elevator 1 arrives. You want to make your trip slower by calling E1, go right ahead...

If there are busy times when lots of people leave a floor at the same time, there might be a need to relax the mutual exclusion rule. One way would be to cancel both calls when either elevator leaves a floor, unless the other call button has been pressed since it arrived. I would have the other button start blinking to warn people that it's about to cancel.

For the lobby there are several approaches.

One possible approach would be for elevator 1 to always go directly to the rooftop or basement directly, and only stop on other floors on the return. Other users would quickly learn that it's not in their interest to use that elevator.

Another would be installing a destination floor selector in the lobby, plus buttons for "wheelchair" and "freight". Elevator companies are notorious for charging excessively for trivial things, but the software logic is simple enough, and could be implemented as an after-market kit that simulates button presses within the elevator. (I suggest leaving the buttons inside the elevator in case the software screws up, but put them inside an alarmed cupboard to discourage people from using them.)

If you are in a jurisdiction that makes it difficult for "amateurs" to modify an elevator system, but where you have a centralized locking system then that could be used to enforce the elevator allocation without modifying the elevator system itself: instead of call buttons, the person taps their card in the lobby, and the system tells them which elevator will next take them to their home floor. If they get into the wrong elevator, their card simply won't work. There's a small chance of a sub-optimal outcome where someone doesn't want to go to their home floor. And in the short term, people may try to game the system by pressing "freight" until they realize their waiting time for an elevator is worse on average. It might be helpful to have separate card readers for calling "up" and "down" elevators.

(Other solutions that partially alter the UI have merit, but neglect wheelchair users' need for the extra space in elevator 1.)

Directing people to specific elevators also makes it easier to enforce elevator passenger limits, particularly when a town is in a Covid-19 lock-down. Tapping a card rather than pushing a button is also a hygiene measure.

Answer 8

I think this is especially tough because the combination of these issues:

1. E1 is the only way to access the roof and garage
2. E1 is the main intended elevator for for wheelchairs/strollers/accessibility
3. E1 is associated with panel A AND panel B

I'm going to assume that most users already have some way of knowing (existing labeling?) that E1 is the appropriate elevator for roof access or accessibility.

So looking at the main question...

How can residents be guided to use the special panel ("A") as intended (only when intending to ride elevator #1)?

A couple options with the goal of discouraging users from pressing panel A unless they need elevator #1, while not causing confusion if elevator #1 opens when panel B is pressed:

The nudge

Make Panel "A" more clearly associated with only elevator #1:

          1               2                 3               4      
    +-----+-----+   +-----+-----+     +-----+-----+   +-----+-----+
   A|     |     |   |     |     |  B  |     |     |   |     |     |
  +-|     |     |   |     |     | +-+ |     |     |   |     |     |
  | |     |     |   |     |     | | | |     |     |   |     |     |
  | |     |     |   |     |     | | | |     |     |   |     |     |
  +-|     |     |   |     |     | +-+ |     |     |   |     |     |
    |     |     |   |     |     |     |     |     |   |     |     |
    |     |     |   |     |     |     |     |     |   |     |     |
    +-----+-----+   +-----+-----+     +-----+-----+   +-----+-----+

The colors

(I'd have made diagonal stripes but who has the time)

Answer 9

Solution1

No hardware modification required. Just add two software rules:

• full priority to the destination floor selected inside the elevator 1 when at the garage level or at the roof level
• full priority to the elevator call buttons at the garage level and the roof level

This way the elevator 1 will not be affected by people pressing both buttons on all the other floors

Solution2

Have this:

Answer 10

Many of the proposed solutions involve combining the panels or relabeling Elevator 1's controls. The problem with this is accessibility: anyone who needs the larger car (especially if they are not tenants -- visitors or delivery people mostly) may not understand they have to use that panel to get Elevator 1 if their destination isn't one of the specially-marked destinations.

Instead, I propose putting a giant blue-and-white wheelchair sign above the left panel (ideally with braille at the bottom, or below the panel):

Possibly include signage stating "ELEVATOR 1 ONLY", as well as signage above the center panel stating "ELEVATORS 1-4", so more astute users will realize the center panel can summon the first elevator as well.

This should be a clear indicator to disabled users (and stroller users and delivery people) that this car is a larger-capacity car better suited to their needs, while (at least hopefully) discouraging casual usage of the panel by people who are going to use the main panel anyways.

Answer 11

I think the functionality of the elevators and two panels are fine. The issue is with user behavior.

You have two sets of users:

1. Users who are in a wheelchair or want to go to roof or basement.
2. Users not in set 1. ie. non-wheelchair users who want to go to general floors.

For each set of users, we want to encourage and discourage a certain behavior.

1. For these users, we want to encourage them to use (special) panel A and discourage them from using panel B.
2. For these users, we want to encourage them to use (general) panel B and discourage them from using panel A.

Note that we will allow both users 1. and 2. to use the elevators simultaneously. Both panels will be used, but at the same time, both special and general elevators that get called down will be used by users 1. and users 2., respectively. We want to avoid the case where a user calls down an elevator and abandons it.

Design:

First, we can put a simple sign on top of each panel. panel B will have a sign "TO 1-N", where N is the topmost non-roof floor. panel A will have "TO B-ROOF <wheelchair symbol>". These signs are just to give a general idea and may be vague to the user. But we will try to reinforce/punish to get a certain behavior out of them.

To encourage users 2. to use panel B, we will put it closer to the entrance. There will also be a chance that panel B calls down the special elevator and that would also encourage users 2. to only use panel B as they would see that there is no need to use both panels.

To discourage users 2. from using panel A, we will put it a little farther off from the entrance. Not too far so that it would inconvenience users 1., but far enough that users 2. will be too lazy to walk the few extra steps.

The idea is that a user sees panel B before panel A. They have to actively decide to press panel A in addition to panel B by walking extra steps. Having panel A come up first is bad because it leads to users accidentally using panel A. They would see panel A first and use it. Even if they go and correct their action by using panel B, they can't cancel their mistaken use of panel A.

We already encourage users 1. to use panel A since it is the only elevator that can go to the special floors and accommodate wheelchairs.

We discourage users 1. from using panel B because they might get 3/4 wrong elevators. If they are on a wheelchair, they will find out that there is not enough space. If they want to go to the roof or basement, they will find out the buttons for those floors are missing.

In addition to all of this, we can put up a sign with a few sentences on elevator etiquette for those that are not too lazy to read. They can help spread the word. For example, if a person sees a wheelchair user waiting for a panel B elevator, he can kindly tell the wheelchair user to use panel A.

Answer 12

Current system:

• Panel "A" - Calls elevator 1
• Panel "B" - Calls elevators 1-4
• Panel "A+B" - May end up calling two elevators

Below are 2 proposed fixes, intended to be used at the same time.

Fix 1:

1. If a user pushes any button on any panel, the corresponding light will turn on.
2. If a user pushes a direction on panel "A", it will silently cancel that direction on panel "B" (the light on panel "B" will remain on).
3. If a user pushes a direction on panel "B" while panel "A" is active, it will silently be ignored (the light on panel "B" will still turn on).

This has a few effects:

1. If multiple people want to use an elevator, only one elevator will be sent.
2. Users will learn (or be told) using both panels is slower (i.e., because if elevator 1 is in use, elevators 2-4 won't arrive). If they do so anyways, they're only hurting themselves.
3. If a user is fine with any elevator but someone else wants elevator 1, they'll be penalized. This is mitigated by fix 2, since having multiple people request an elevator at once is more common in the lobby.

Users can still game the system by pushing the wrong direction and hoping an empty elevator shows up.

Fix 2:

Set elevator 1 to rest in the lobby when not in use.

This has a few effects:

• Optimizes delivery of freight/packages (freight typically only goes in one direction; the delivery person can go down on any elevator).
• The lobby will tend to call an elevator faster.

Notes:

The people who know/care/understand the current system should already realize that pushing both panels is not necessarily faster, since panel B already calls elevators 1-4. The goal of this solution is not to penalize people who abuse the system. Rather, the intent here is to ensure that people who use both panels don't slow down the elevators for everyone else (i.e., by using 2 elevators when they only need 1).

Answer 13

Elevator1   Elevator2   Elevator3   Elevator4
~4 min      ~1 min      ~3 min      ~3 min
            >CALLED<

The problem seems to be people believing they get a benefit out of pressing both buttons, when in fact they will not. I think this can be addressed by communicating the state of things more clearly. By displaying an estimated waiting time for each elevator (calculated by distance and requested stops on the way) the users will clearly see the fastest option is reserved for them after Pressing Panel B.

The estimated times are always displayed - so this will encourage people to use Panel B if one of the three Elevators displays the smallest estimated waiting time. And if Elevator 1 has the smallest waiting time it does not matter if they press B or A.

This solution could be quite costly to retrofit on your building, but I think it could solve the problem quite nicely by informing the users.

Answer 14

How about:

• Make panel B light up the buttons on both panels, summon any elevator, and have both go out when any elevator answers.

• Make panel A light up only panel A, and summon only elevator 1.

• Make elevator 1 responding to a panel A summons or use NOT respond to panel B summons. This mode would probably end when either the elevator is closed and not directed, or when it reaches the end of travel and turns around.

The fact that panel A doesn't get all the elevators but panel B does should filter through to most people over time.

The one problem with this is that some people will work out that they can get an express elevator... so you might need a key or password system to discourage this.

Answer 15

I'd put a timer / a usage sensor in the circuits for Elevator 1 during peak periods, so once its been called it will always go directly to the set destination ( the roof or the basement )

Anything to do with trying to get users to modify their pattern of behaviour is going to be too complex.

EDIT: this doesn't address the disabled usage issue which I couldn't resolve. Of all the answers and comments to the Question, a comment by Supercat is the simplest solution which cracks both problems.

Answer 16

I'm going to add yet another option, to address a separate aspect of the problem. (If you think this doesn't cover something, please read my other two answers before commenting to that effect.)

Part of the reason people hit both call buttons is because they can and without thinking.

Even if the buttons have different labels, they have the same affordance, requiring the same arm & hand movement, and are just a few seconds apart as one walks along the corridor.

I would fix this by changing one of the pairs of call buttons to something that requires a different physical action; for example:

• a lever that you raise or lower against a pneumatic arrestor so that it takes 2 seconds to move the lever far enough; or
• a knob that you rotate 60°, with a speed limiter (about 5 rpm or 30°/s) so you can't simply spin it; or
• a kick-plate at knee level that you have to hold for 2 seconds; or
• two pressure pads on the floor, each 250mm wide and 550mm apart, that you have stand on simultaneously (or park your wheels on); or
• a smart pressure mat that recognizes the difference between rolling and stepping;
• or even just a button that you have to hold for 5 seconds.

There are lots of options, but the important part is that you want something that you cannot activate while continuing to walk, and which requires a different muscular action from tapping the regular buttons (a long hold is sufficiently different from a sharp tap for this purpose).

Of course this won't be perfect, but the mental discordance of having to take two actions with a bodily stop should encourage most people to think about what they're doing and why.

Answer 17

It is also slightly larger in size than the other 3 elevators, to accommodate wheelchair-using residents and strollers.

Based on the above statement (emphasis on slightly is mine) I take it that the other three elevators can be used by wheelchair-using residents and strollers.
So, on floors other than rooftop and basement, we can dedicate elevator 1 for travel to rooftop and basement only by the panel A having "rooftop" and "basement" buttons only. The internal panel in elevator A should have buttons for all floors (more on this later) but only the "rooftop" and "basement" buttons must be enabled. The only way someone can exit the lift in an intermediate floor is when someone else is entering in that floor (which is why it stops there) but this is more a matter of chance than choice.
On the rooftop & basement floors, however, the panel A can have only one button: "down" and "up" respectively. Additionally, once the lift stops in the rooftop or basement floor, all floor buttons must be enabled on the inside panel, but the intermediate floor buttons must be disabled once the lift stops at one of the intermediate floors (because someone else is entering there).
This way, only users entering from one of the dedicated floors will get to exit at the floor of their choice. The other users (entering at intermediate floors) have the choice to exit at rooftop or basement only (they already made that choice while pressing the respective button on panel A, so there's nothing to complain).

Answer 18

Key-switches. Replace the call buttons with key-switches at all levels except Garage, Lobby and Roof. Yes, there's a loophole, in that people can summon it to the lobby and use it as a normal elevator to ascend to any floor. But it won't be stopping empty at all intermediate floors unless somebody with the appropriate key called it there. You could prevent that by also using key-switches inside the elevator car for all floors except these three.

Answer 19

I propose disconnecting the panel B from elevator 1. This would at least reduce the duplicated floors from panel B.

1. When there are a lot of people waiting, as a common user I would most likely see that both panels are pressed and has higher chance of using elevator 2,3,4
2. In the minor case of going to the rooftop, basement and using the wheelchair. I would be directed to elevator 1 (either by a sign or visual cues). Since more people will be using the other 3 elevator, elevator A might have empty space. At this point elevator A users can:

• Skip the empty pressed floors, as there are less people.
• If there are people in elevator A actually need to go to the floors in between, I would say they have the fair travel time as everyone else in the elevator. In case there are wheelchair users, they may negotiate with others to go to their floor first.

Answer 20

2 separate answers:

1. My building has a similar set of elevators. The #1 elevator is on the north side of the building and the #2-4 elevators are on the south side. No one presses all 4 buttons.
2. I recall a building I visited that charged $0.10 for using the elevator. If there was a per call charge - even a nominal amount - then people would probably stop doing that. I think you would have to make trips to the ground floor free, but you could charge for other trips. It seems like you could package charging and requesting into a mobile app so no one would have to touch the elevator controls. I would be happy to pay a small fee to never again have to push elevator buttons.

Answer 21

If any solution goes

Make all four elevators equal in size and floors they attend. Then you only need a single button and everyone will be treated equally.

More realistic

Similar to a disabled toilet, which we'd all use if it's free and no other toilets are available, you would refrain if there was a disabled person inside or in line.

If you can find a way to indicate on every floor that elevator 1 is being used for roof, garage or disabled access, you would have more chance to discourage people from pressing the button.

Answer 22

I suspect that the other difference elevator one has is that its load limit is 1000 pounds greater than the other three. (There should be a small plaque somewhere, or a notation on the certificate.)

In short, it is the freight elevator. Large deliveries, movers, etc use this elevator (and usually get the key to lock it out). The loading dock is in the garage, so it must go down that far. Similarly, rooftop deliveries require it go to the roof.

I suspect that the real failure in the UX is that there should not even be panel A. Panel B should call all elevators any time, and any elevator not locked out will answer. When a large deliver occurs, they will get the key and call elevator 1 from either the loading dock, a special call button in the office, or a key switch on the office level. (Failing that, one can keep calling elevators and sending the wrong ones away until the freight elevator shows up.)

Answer 23

Is it really necessary to take Elevator 1 directly from any floor if your eventual destination is the carpark or rooftop?

What about simply changing elevators on the ground or top floor? So there's no "call rooftop" or "call carpark" buttons on the floors.

Instead every elevator has "carpark" and "rooftop" buttons, but if it doesn't actually go there, the system will instead arrange a rendezvous with elevator 1 on any suitable floor - either one that both elevators are already going to stop at, otherwise the last reachable floor in that direction of travel.

And play an announcement "For access to the carpark please disembark on this floor and transfer to elevator 1".

A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that this might actually be the faster way to get to the carpark or roottop on average, assuming the building has at least 4× as many floors as elevators.

In a sufficiently tall building, this would also be the fastest way to get between floors generally.

(Of course, the "disability" access buttons would still call elevator 1, but now they could be signposted as exclusively for that purpose.)

(edit) Footnote: to make this a near-optimal solution, the system would need to schedule the elevators so that there's at least one running in the same direction as elevator 1 slightly before it. By which I mean, short enough that a fast person transferring would find elevator 1 arriving just as they step up to it, and long enough that a slow person transferring would get to elevator 1 before it decides to depart, and that minimal additional waiting time would be required.

Also, you would want to block the "close door" button in E1 while it's waiting for people to transfer.

(edit2) Clarification:

There's only 2 ordinary call buttons on each floor ("up" and "down"), and the "wheelchair" call buttons won't bring you an "extra" elevator. Rather, if you press one of those, you'll wait until either the larger elevator #1 is available, or an empty normal elevator is available. So you'll wait longer, but since the normal elevators can only take 1 wheelchair, you'll get an express ride when it does arrive. If you get elevator #1 then it might stop for other passengers, but fewer.

Answer 24

Have only one panel (or 2 or more panels with same functionality) and buttons:

ROOF
UP
DOWN
BASEMENT
WHEELCHAIR

Using appropriate symbols (see other answers).

All elevators are numbered and elevator 1 marked with symbols for wheelchair, basement and roof (on the door and the floor directly below it - so as not to get confused with the panels).

Only if roof, basement or wheelchair is pressed, will evelevator 1 stop. Otherwise elevator 2, 3 or 4 stops.

Additionally, people with wheelchairs who live or work in the building get access to the extra service elevator.

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Apart from that (and slightly off-topic): Walking and climbing stairs is healthy. Encourage people to use the stairs. Using stairs instead of elevator may effectively save time, especially if you compare it with time wasted waiting for and standing in elevator and time wasted sitting in the car and driving to the gym where you get your workout on a stepper. Absurdistan. This will free the elevator for people who actually need it.

Answer 25

Building on @eskew 's excellent answer, as long as privacy is not a concern, why not simply move the full floor selector panel entirely to the outside of the elevator, instead of having multiple directional buttons on the outside and floor buttons on the inside? That would reduce input to a single interaction.

Pros:

• Every panel on every floor would have every floor being stopped at illuminated. If yours is already illuminated, you immediately know an elevator is already on the way, and you may not need to touch the panel at all.

• There's no way to "game" the system by pressing both sets of buttons, potentially reducing wasted energy of having two elevators show up unnecessarily. The computer will automatically bring any closest bay to your floor.

Cons:

• Privacy could be a big concern. In case you don't want that creepy dude behind you knowing which floor you're going to, there's not really any way to hide which floor you selected. Then again, he may just as well jump in the bay with you regardless of how the elevator is designed.

• I guess you'll also need a panel on the inside, because Forgetful Joe will invariably forget which floor he needs to go to, or which level he parked on.

• If a special elevator is required, you would still need some sort of way to request that one specifically. Perhaps with a specialized button to call for that one specifically.

Answer 26

This cannot just be solved with UX as your users already know. If you kicked everyone in the building out, then some of the other answers would work for sure. To alter your knowledgeable users you need to change the UX and the functionality and reprogram them.

My suggestion is a little bit simplistic.

It would include a brief bulletin or plaque outside the elevator saying the elevator's priority is servicing roof, garage, and handicap access.

In the elevator (most have this ability) you would need one button turned to a handicap button. This would allow someone in a wheelchair to press the button and then their floor.

Here is the special part. You have elevator 1 reprogrammed to give absolute priority to the handicap floors, roof, and garage. So if I come on the elevator and press floor 12 and we are on floor 3, and then another person gets on after and presses "Roof"... we go to the roof.

And if someone gets on, on the roof and presses "Garage", it then goes to the garage, even though it has passed floor 12 twice! If this happens to a person 1-2 times they will surely never get on that elevator again unless it is for intended use.

We have done this similar arrange for our "moving/freight" elevators.

The catch - anyone could press the handicap button then their floor. I don't really see this as an issue as most people would be embarrassed to do this. Also if it were referenced that the elevators were monitored I would think it would discourage almost everyone.