Campaigns

Bad design wastes time, creates confusion, and excludes people. The Design Surrey Better campaign starts with a simple question: why do so many public spaces still make basic things harder than they need to be?

Our first focus is Norman Doors — doors that don't clearly show whether to push, pull, or slide. The name comes from design researcher Don Norman, whose work showed that when everyday objects confuse people, the fault lies with the design, not the person. Norman Doors may seem minor, but they reveal a bigger issue: public spaces should be designed around people, not just appearances.

Bad public design is an accessibility issue for seniors and people with disabilities, a safety issue in emergencies, and a dignity issue for everyone who has ever felt like the problem when the building was the problem.

What we’re asking for

Metro Surrey is calling on Surrey City Council to explore a framework to ban Norman Doors on all new builds within the city — a clear, enforceable standard requiring that doors in new construction communicate how they open, without a sign telling you.

We are asking Council to direct staff to report back on what such a framework would look like: how it would be written into building and development requirements, how it would be applied to civic buildings, libraries, recreation centres, and public-facing spaces, and what it would take to enforce.

Surrey can be first

No city in North America has done this. If Council passes this framework, Surrey becomes the first Norman Door–free jurisdiction on the continent — and, as far as we can determine, the first anywhere in the world.

It is a small standard with a large idea behind it: that a city can decide, deliberately, that its buildings will not confuse the people who use them. Surrey has the chance to set that standard before anyone else does.