Boaty McBoatface & Why Design is not Democratic
In March of 2016, the British polar expedition vessel Sir David Attenborough came within a hair of being forever known as “Boaty McBoatface”.
The intent was noble. National Environment Research Council, a UK government agency, set out to engage the public in the naming of its new research ship. Many dignified names were proposed - RSS Falcon, RSS Pride of Britain, RSS Admiral Edward Vernon, RSS Endurance - but none of them stuck.
It was too late to turn around once the names like “Notthetitanic,” “Ice Ice Baby,” and “Fish and Chips” started coming in. Boaty McBoatface, suggested by a BBC radio presenter James Hand, struck the public’s fancy and became a clear favorite. More than 120,000 Britons cast their vote for Boaty McBoatface. And so the popular choice for a £200 million polar scientific research ship was to give it a tongue-in-cheek name fit for a rubber ducky companion. The serious people at the UK’s National Environment Research Council did what serious people do: they overruled the will of the general public and chose a fitting name from the pool of proposed options. RSS Sir David Attenborough is now performing its serious scientific duties.
What about Boaty McBoatface?
Perhaps to prevent a revolution, the government agency offered a consolation prize to all those who voted for Boaty. They did give this honorable name to a much smaller boat, an “autonomous underwater vehicle” that does get to travel and work with RSS David Attenborough. And it looks like a yellow submarine.
This story has been cited as an example of internet trolling and a cautionary tale for those mistaking the runaway will of the internet for the will of the conscientious public. But there is yet another lesson here that is relevant to design and architecture:
Design is not democratic.
On the surface, it seems like a delightful idea to give everyone involved in a design project equal voting rights. It sure looks like it on HGTV - let’s throw some ideas around and the best ones will win! Unfortunately, good ideas and popular ideas are rarely the same thing.
As architects, we often have to do what the National Environment Research Council did - gather lots of ideas and choose the ones that fit the purpose, even when people are in love with ones that do not.
