I feel like this is a lesson everyone needs to know and few people do. I learnt it from The Design of Everyday Things (great book).
Kind of feels like the author didn't quite get it still. Like he's realised why people sit on the throne thing but he hasn't realised that the solution is to put benches nearby! Or better yet - turn it into a thing that you can sit on.
Every engineer especially should read this book. It's one of the few books I recommend universally. A decent summary of the book was submitted here a year ago with a bunch of discussion:
In the book I learned if it's a flat surface, someone will put something on it.
This article adds to that lesson, if it's a sit-able surface, someone will sit on it. Not just sit, someone will set foot on it, lean against it or interact with it in whatever way.
Kind of feels like the author didn't quite get it still. Like he's realised why people sit on the throne thing but he hasn't realised that the solution is to put benches nearby! Or better yet - turn it into a thing that you can sit on.