The font size on the menus in McDonald’s restaurants is way too small. The font size does not honor the visual abilities of most people. It’s really quite bizarre. They are the worst in-store menus I’ve ever seen. I wonder if the graphic designers ever stood and looked at the menus after they were manufactured.

But I suppose, what can we expect from the corporation that is costing the global population billions of dollars in healthcare expenses due to the unhealthiness of the food they serve?

On the other hand, it’s not really all their fault. McDonald’s operates within systems, those being markets and governments, which tend to emphasize elements at the expense of relationships and proximities. In other words, money (an element) is emphasized at the expense of the general healthiness (proximity) of people, and the tastes (relationships) of freshly cooked healthy foods.

And of course, most of us operate within such dysfunctional systems. So you can’t really have high expectations for most anyone or anything.

What is needed are systems which acknowledge and allow for elements, relationships, and proximities. The ProxThink growth model is an attempt at such a system.

“The importance of what Wilson and Kelling wrote was the emphasis not only on crime committed against people but the emphasis on crimes committed against the community, neighborhoods,” Mr. Bratton said.

The above quote is from the New York Times story about James Q. Wilson at the time of his death. They say “his ‘broken windows’ theory of law enforcement laid the groundwork for crime reduction programs in New York, Los Angeles and other cities.” The full story is here.

On most blocks, and in most neighborhoods, and in most cities, there are no public places to sit outside and have community. Places that are either not privately owned, or not serving some other purpose like a street or sidewalk. Explain that to me. How does that honor the integrity of what humans need?

I wrote this sitting on the ground, on a concrete sidewalk.

This shelf to hold your drink is in the restroom of a newly remodeled Starbucks in California I went to recently. It recognizes that you are likely to have a drink in your hand when you enter the restroom. It helps you out and makes Starbucks look smart.

This is a nice example of the Core Idea of proximity thinking, as well as a few ProxPatterns.

The Core Idea states that: In a situation, change elements, relationships and the proximity to better relate to each other. Starbucks added the element of the shelf to the proximity of the restroom. This helps other elements in the proximity, such as people and coffee cups, better relate to the restroom. It helps people better relate to elements like the toilet, sink and hand dryer. It keeps the coffee cup safer, cleaner, and easily reachable. Coat hooks perform a similar improvement for restrooms. Both get unneeded things out of the way temporarily.

You also might come to an idea like the restroom coffee shelf via ProxPatterns. You might, with ProxAwareness, notice there is no good place to put your coffee when you enter the restroom after you yourself get a cup. You might think, I wonder if something could be done about this (Value of Some). There might be other things people want to put down temporarily (Relate a Variety), so the shelf should be wider than just a cup. You might also use the transition smoothly ProxPattern, by placing the shelf next to the side of the door which opens, so people will see it right away.

For more about differences in relationships, read the paragraph titled “Differences” on this advanced page about relationships.

For more about the importance of some, in contrast to none or all, see the Value of Some.

My answer is I agree, and the ProxPatterns help suggest relationships more likely to work and enhance life. That doesn’t mean the ProxPatterns are free of contradictions. In fact, they allow and work with contradictions.

NO ONE should EVER be seated that close to the screen. Well, and have to pay for it. Maybe if they paid me to sit there, that would’ve been different. It was such a strange, uncomfortable experience that it was hard to pay attention to the film. They should not even have seats installed that close to the screen!

I’m not sure if it was the movie theater designers, or the business owners, but people were not thinking when they designed that theater. We were at the Landmark Theatre at 10850 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064.

The theater owners and designers both had poor ProxAwareness, as far as being aware of what sitting there is actually like.

Their ProxSet for this situation included the elements of money, and the customer’s experience, and of course other elements. It seems they honored the integrity of the element of money more than the element of the customer’s experience! This strategy can often work in the short term, and often not work in the long term.

Of course it didn’t help that “A Dangerous Method” is so far out of the ordinary experience of most people, that it might as well be a science fiction film. It didn’t honor the integrity of what being a human being is like, to any great degree.

So many films these days depend on some gimmick or contrived situation. I had hoped that “A Dangerous Method” would be different, but somehow it really wasn’t.

I suggest that David Cronenberg take some time off from moviemaking, and spend more time with regular people. Ordinary life is far more interesting and full of possibilities.

Of course I’m not saying there isn’t a market for David Cronenberg’s films. And of course I might have liked the film more, and been less cranky, if I hadn’t had such horrible movie seats!

Landmark Theatres may have other blind spots. I’d be glad to help them do some proximity thinking via seminars, collaboration or idea sessions.

These are individual stalls. One per person, each with its own door. Does anything seem missing?

How about one of those signs that show whether the stall is occupied or vacant? The temporary portable restrooms that were there during construction of this building had occupied/vacant signs. Isn’t it bizarre that the new building lacks them? Hundreds of people a day use these restrooms.

I know they make occupied/vacant signs for this type of door. I’ve seen them.

In ProxThink terms, an occupied/vacant sign uses Connected Independence to increase ProxAwareness. You know whether someone is in there independent of having to knock or try the handle.

For more, see Connected Independence and ProxAwareness.

Some of these things include friends, family, community, health, fun, variety, the arts, balance, the environment, living situations, social groups, and even politeness.

The proximity thinking framework may provide some approaches which could change this. The framework acknowledges and allows for the dynamic relationship of elements, relationships and proximity. Especially the greater emphasis on proximity, as well as approaches which let us relate more directly to proximities, may shift the importance of work, career and markets to a more appropriate place.

The main approach I’m referring to here is the sustainable proximities approach. Here’s an example of how to use the approach, written up as a short guide: How to Create a Sustainable Proximity.