Pressing Issues

Overview
Pressing Issues is an observational UX research project exploring how pedestrians interact with Australia's PB/5 crossing button in Sydney CBD. Through field observations and behavioural analysis, the project investigates how interface feedback influences user behaviour.
The Challenge
The PB/5 crossing button provides little visible confirmation that a pedestrian request has been registered. This uncertainty often leads users to press the button repeatedly and question whether the system is working.
The Solution
The project proposes a simple visual confirmation when the button is activated, providing immediate feedback to reduce repeated presses, improve user confidence, and create a clearer crossing experience. The concept is demonstrated through an interactive prototype.
Project type
UX Research, Interaction Design
Roles / Services
Research & Design
Location
Sydney, Australia
Agency
Year completed
2024

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Pressing Issues — observational research on the PB/5 pedestrian crossing button

observational research report ↴

Pressing Issues

An observational analysis of button usage and pedestrian behaviour at a Sydney CBD crossing, and what a button's silence does to the people who press it.

field site

Druitt St / Park St / George St, Sydney CBD

object

PB/5 audio-tactile crossing button (1984)

method

Direct observation, video, field notes

sample

132 pedestrians across 3 sessions

01 — context

A button used by thousands, designed to be heard but not seen.

The PB/5 is one of Australia's most familiar pieces of street furniture: the round steel button beneath a blue tactile arrow, mounted about a metre off the ground at signalised crossings. It was built to serve blind and low-vision pedestrians through sound and touch: a locator tick, a vibrating arrow, a distinctive tone when the signal changes.

But the site chosen for this study is anything but quiet. At the Town Hall corner, bounded by the QVB, The Galleries, Woolworths and Hotel QVB, layered with light rail, buses and heavy foot traffic, the button meets a constant, diverse stream of users. Watching how they press it reveals a gap the original design never closed.

The PB/5 button at the observation crossing
Fig 1.1. The PB/5 button at the observation pole.
Satellite view of the intersection
Fig 1.2. The intersection at Druitt St, Park St and George St.

02 — the observations

Three sessions, three conditions, one consistent reflex.

Observations were staged across different times, weather and light to separate genuine behaviour patterns from circumstance. The conditions changed; the core reflex, pressing more than once, did not.

session 01

Cloudy morning

2 hours24°Cn = 83

session 02

Rainy evening

30 min15°Cn = 15

session 03

Clear evening

1 hour16°Cn = 34

Cloudy morning session at the crossing
Fig 2.1. Cloudy morning.
Rainy evening session at the crossing
Fig 2.2. Rainy evening.
Clear evening session at the crossing
Fig 2.3. Clear evening.

03 — what the data showed

People press again, and again, to be sure.

>1

presses per person

In all three sessions, more people pressed the button more than once than pressed it a single time.

~1.3s

per multi-press

Average duration of a repeated interaction, often four jabs in barely more than a second.

43 / 21

multi-finger vs. single

In the morning session, presses using more than one finger outnumbered single-finger presses two to one.

Frame 1: hand approaching the button Frame 2: first press Frame 3: second press Frame 4: third press Frame 5: fourth press Frame 6: hand withdrawn
Fig 5.11. One pedestrian presses four times in 1.3 seconds. Frames captured against a passing vehicle as a timing reference.

04 — patterns of behaviour

Five ways people meet a crossing.

Field observation surfaced a spectrum of behaviour that aligns closely with Xie et al. (2016) on crosswalks with push buttons, from strict compliance to outright disregard of the signal:

1Law-abiders, who wait for the green signal regardless of whether they pressed.
2Risk-takers, who cross against the red when a gap appears in traffic.
3Followers, mass behaviour; they step off because others did, signal or not.
4The impatient, who wait briefly, then cross once patience runs out.
5Non-pressers, who never touch the button, assuming someone else has.
A pedestrian crossing on red
Fig 5.12. Risk behaviour, crossing on red.
Pedestrians following others across
Fig 5.13. Mass behaviour, following others.

05 — the argument

Why silence produces the repeated press.

claim

The PB/5 fails to communicate its operational status to sighted pedestrians. There is no visible sign a press has registered.

reason

With no visible confirmation, a person cannot know their press was received.

evidence

Observed repeated pressing, hesitation, risk-taking and signal disregard across all sessions.

warrant

When a system gives no clear feedback, users lose confidence in it, and its usage and efficiency suffer.

Pedestrians press repeatedly because the button never tells them it heard. Give it a visible reply, and one press is enough.

— central hypothesis, pressing issues

06 — grounding in the literature

The fix is evidenced, not just intuited.

Van Houten et al. (2006) Push-button confirmation, both visual and audible, increased both call-button usage and the share of pedestrians who waited for the walk signal. The direct evidence base for adding a visible reply.
Noyce & Bentzen (2005) Over 95% of button presses last under one second, so presses are brief by nature, so repetition reflects doubt, not deliberate holding.
Xie et al. (2016) Modelled the diversity of pedestrian behaviour at button-activated crosswalks; the five-type taxonomy this study observed in the field.
Bradbury et al. (2012) Pedestrians are likelier to wait for a "Walk" signal when others are present. Social presence shapes compliance.
Li & Wu (2021) Not every pedestrian presses to cross, and some press several times, corroborating the repeated-press pattern observed here.

An observational research report produced as part of a Master of Design study. For the detailed report and further information, please get in touch. Interact with the working button in the demo below.

The button that never answers. PB/5 pedestrian crossing interaction demo

interactive demo ↴

Feel the feedback gap.

Press the button in Current, the PB/5 as it stands on the street, and notice nothing visible replies. Then switch to Improved and press once. Turn sound on to hear the real ATS/2 signals. The crossing and walk lights behave as they do in life.

WAIT
press to call
Presses
0
Visible confirmation
None
Phase
Don't walk
Sound — ATS/2
Off

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