bikes, umbrellas and something to eat

Bikes locked to signs:

On my way to school I pass numerous bikes locked on street signs or on railings. Often several bikes are locked to one sign. I often have trouble getting my biked locked correctly on bike rakes that are designed for this purpose, so I can only imagine that it's more difficult to lock multiple bikes to a street sign. A great design solution for this problem would be to create a bisected base for these signed that would allow people to lock multiple bikes to them more easily. 

Umbrellas at the bank:

Last week it rained and I saw several people leave their open umbrellas on the ground while banking. A lack of surface space to hold personal belonging seems to be a common issue at ATMs. Last semester I did a participant observation at ATMs (with Stuart) and we witnessed people engaging in an array of behaviors to deal with the lack of surface space: walking into the bank to endorse checks, using the wall to endorse checks, placing their bags on the ground, passing belonging to companions and wedging their belonging between their bodies and the wall. A design solution for this would be to great hook next to the ATM where you can hand a coat or book bag and creating selves at a convenient height for signing checks. 

Leaning on a wall to eat:

This picture was taken outside the theater building at Berkeley. These ladies are leaning against the wall while eating lunch. It would probably be more comfortable for them if they had a bench.