Marketers tend to consign User Experience discussions to digital executions. But last July, South Africa and Norway gave a sculpted bench as a gift to the United Nations that perfectly embodies branded UX.
As a physical piece, it is elegantly simple: a long, spare, gracefully curving, arc.
But as a User Experience, it is quietly effective; sitting down puts you in close proximity to anyone else sharing the bench.
And that’s exactly the point. The Norwegian design firm Snøhetta took their inspiration from a Nelson Mandela quote:
“The best weapon is to sit down and talk.”
Nelson Mandela, Mandela: The Living Legend, BBC 2003
Mandela’s words reflect the United Nations’ mission to maintain international peace and security. As an experience, “Best Weapon” is entirely on brand. And in these exhausting days of showboating, self-interested politicians posturing as leaders, this sculpture’s core human truth resonates in powerful silence.
Yes, an excellent example of what we need more of in this country. Instead, we have the inverted version of this bench, with room for one point of view at the top and both sides fighting for that singular and selfish position. Hoping for unity.