I laughed at a funeral. It was a mistake. I did not mean to laugh. My uncle died in the winter. The church was cold. The priest talked about a garden. The priest said my uncle loved his tomatoes. I remembered a joke about a tomato. The joke was old. I laughed out loud.

The sound hit the wood of the pews. The sound hit the stone of the walls. People turned their heads. My face felt hot. I did not have a sense of the room. I did not have a sense of the moment. I had lost the rhythm of the day.

The Architecture of Stillness

I work in a museum. I am a coordinator for education. I walk the galleries every day. The museum has thick walls. The walls keep out the noise. The walls keep out the light. The museum uses artificial light. The light protects the old paintings. The paintings do not like the sun.

The visitors walk slow. The visitors look at the art. There are no clocks on the gallery walls. We want the visitors to stay. We want the visitors to look at the art. We do not want the visitors to think about their cars. We do not want the visitors to think about their dinner. This is a design.

But the museum has a closing time. We ring a bell. We turn off the lights. We tell the people to go home. The digital world does not ring a bell. The digital world does not have a closing time.

Emma laid on her bed. The bed was soft. The room was dark. Emma held her phone. The phone was a black rectangle. Emma touched the screen. The screen became bright. Emma opened a game. The game had reels. The reels had symbols. Emma touched a button.

The reels spun. The reels stopped. Emma touched the button again. Emma thought she would play for ten minutes. Emma thought it was midnight. When the phone battery died, the screen went black. Emma looked at the clock on the wall. The clock said 1:40 AM. Emma had lost two hours.

Emma is not weak. Emma is a victim of a design. The design comes from the casino floor. The casino floor has no windows. The casino floor has no clocks. The casino floor wants the player to stay. The app on the phone does the same thing. The app removes the cues. The app hides the time. Knowing the time is a form of defense.

1. The removal of the status bar

The status bar is at the top of the phone. The status bar shows the time. The status bar shows the battery level. The status bar shows the signal. When Emma opens the game, the status bar disappears. The game takes the whole screen. The game is full screen.

The time is gone. The battery level is gone. Emma only sees the reels. Emma only sees the symbols. This is the first step. The user cannot see the hour. The user must swipe to see the time. Swiping is an extra action. Most users do not swipe. The user stays in the game. The user forgets the hour.

2. The constant audio loop

The game has music. The music is a loop. The loop has no start. The loop has no end. The music is fast. The music is cheerful. The music does not change. In the real world, sounds change. Birds chirp in the morning. Cars drive in the afternoon. Silence comes at night.

The game does not have silence. The game does not have morning sounds. The game has the same loop. The loop keeps the brain busy. The loop prevents the brain from resting. The brain stays in the game. The brain does not hear the night.

3. The absence of natural light cues

The screen is always bright. The screen does not dim when the sun goes down. The screen does not get bright when the sun comes up. Emma is in a dark room. The only light comes from the phone. The light is blue. The light is white. The light tells the brain to stay awake.

The brain does not produce the chemical for sleep. The phone is a digital window. But the window only shows the game. The window does not show the moon. The window does not show the stars.

4. The speed of the animation

The reels spin fast. The symbols move quick. The movement creates a rhythm. The rhythm is faster than a heartbeat. The rhythm is faster than a breath. The user matches the rhythm. The user touches the button. The reels spin. The user touches the button again. There is no pause.

A pause allows the user to look away. The design removes the pause. The design keeps the user moving. The motion is a habit. The habit takes over the mind.

5. The near-miss logic

The reels stop. Two symbols match. The third symbol is one inch away. The user almost won. The brain sees the near-miss. The brain wants to fix the miss. The brain wants to try again. The near-miss is a visual trick. The near-miss is not a win. The near-miss is a loss.

But the brain does not see a loss. The brain sees a chance. The user touches the button. The user wants to close the gap. This logic keeps the user in the chair. This logic keeps the user on the bed.

6. The virtual credit system

The user does not use paper money. The user does not use coins. The user uses credits. The credits are numbers on the screen. The numbers do not feel like money. A twenty-pound note has a weight. A twenty-pound note has a smell. A number on a screen has no weight.

It is easy to spend a number. It is hard to spend a note. When the money is a number, the time spent feels different. The user does not feel the cost. The user only feels the play.

A good platform has a clock on the screen. A good platform has a reality check. The reality check is a message. The message tells the player the time. The player can then choose to stop.

7. The hidden exit

The app does not have a big exit button. The exit button is small. The exit button is in a corner. Sometimes the exit button is a small X. The spin button is big. The spin button is in the middle. The spin button is bright.

The design makes it easy to stay. The design makes it hard to leave. Navigation is a path. The path to stay is wide. The path to leave is narrow. The user stays on the wide path.

Finding the Room Again

I think about the funeral again. I laughed because I lost the context. I was in my own head. I was not in the church. I was in the memory of a joke. The app does this to Emma. The app takes Emma out of her room. The app puts Emma in a digital space.

The digital space has no context. The digital space has no history. The digital space only has the next spin. Museums are better than apps. We have walls. We have art. But we also have a door. We have a staff.

I walk to the door at 5:00 PM. I hold the door open. I see the visitors walk out. The visitors see the street. The visitors see the sky. The sky might be grey. The sky might be blue. The visitors look at their watches. They remember the time. They remember their lives.

The digital world needs more doors. The digital world needs more clocks. A screen with no clock is a trap. A screen with no clock is a casino floor. A player should always know the hour. A player should always see the battery. A player should always feel the time.

Emma put her phone on the charger. The phone was dead. The room was silent. Emma felt tired now. Her eyes hurt. The blue light was gone. Emma looked at her hands. Her hands were shaking a little bit. She did not like the feeling.

She wanted to know the time. She looked at the clock. She saw the time. She felt a little better. Knowing the time is a way to come back. It is a way to find the floor. It is a way to find the room.

I will not laugh at the next funeral. I will watch the clock. I will listen to the priest. I will stay in the room. I will stay in the moment. I will not let my mind wander to a joke. I will be present.

Being present is the only way to be safe. It is the only way to be human. The design of the world should help us be human. The design should not hide the sun. The design should not hide the hour.

We are not symbols on a reel. We are people in a room. We need to see the exit. We need to see the time.