I actually saw the first link to this yesterday from a friend on Facebook - in a contest sponsored by Volkswagen in Europe, people had to design something that would encourage better behavior among people in public yet make the task seem more fun. It appears the winner of the contest designed (in cooperation with the Swedish government) a Speed Lottery scheme. . .in this experiment, drivers were encouraged to go at or below the speed limit using the standard camera - in addition to this brightly lit sign which registered that they were entered into the "lottery." Speeders were issued the standard tickets; however, those who DIDN'T speed were entered into a lottery to win part of the proceeds FROM those ticket revenues. Pretty clever? haha. . .
Another one noticed that when there is a staircase next to an escalator, people usually took the escalator. One innovator decided to see if making taking the stairs more fun would encourage a change, remodeled the staircase, turning the steps into piano keys with sound. Suddenly there was a significant increase in people interested in climbing the stairs!
Well now - isn't this the kind of innovation we need in America? See for yourself. . .the trash bin entry is cute as well:
http://www.thefuntheory.com/Haha. . .now this could be featured on next year's state of the union. . .:)