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The Water Fountain Exists, but the System Does Not Let You Reach It

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  1. Version 1Current

    Initial publication

    Initial publication examining the V&A East Storehouse strike as interaction, service, spatial, ergonomic, and organisational design feedback about who carries the cost of public access.

    2,144 words7 sections3 images

    August 2, 2026

    Kris Haamer

    Visuals in the initial version

    A collections worker stands beside an object trolley while a water fountain remains visible but unreachable across the operational rules of the museum.

    A collections worker stands beside an object trolley while a water fountain remains visible but unreachable across the operational rules of the museum.

    A facility can exist on the plan while remaining inaccessible in the lived system.

    /blog/the-water-fountain-exists-but-the-system-does-not-let-you-reach-it/unreachable-water.svg

    The Order an Object interaction begins with a simple visitor request but travels through a catalogue, rules, storage, human retrieval, supervision, and return.

    The Order an Object interaction begins with a simple visitor request but travels through a catalogue, rules, storage, human retrieval, supervision, and return.

    The interface is simple because workers and systems carry the chain behind it.

    /blog/the-water-fountain-exists-but-the-system-does-not-let-you-reach-it/the-button-and-the-chain.svg

    The same museum contains a short exploratory visitor route and a much longer repeated worker route through storage, lifts, study rooms, toilets, and return journeys.

    The same museum contains a short exploratory visitor route and a much longer repeated worker route through storage, lifts, study rooms, toilets, and return journeys.

    The visitor and worker inhabit different versions of the same building.

    /blog/the-water-fountain-exists-but-the-system-does-not-let-you-reach-it/two-maps.svg

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