Turning something mundane into an experience

I spotted this at Paddington Basin last week. They’ve had to drain part of the canal for construction which is normally a pretty inconvenient and dull thing. But they’ve turned it into something that makes people smile by adding a giant plug and drain. I thought it was a lovely touch. It’s doing what a lot of online work should do:

• It’s turning something dull into a more rewarding experience
• It’s observational and witty
• There’s no practical reason to go to this extra effort. And I’m sure the finance department of the construction company wouldn’t have wanted to pay for it (and probably didn’t)
• It’s giving people conversation-fodder. I’ve shown this image to several people and now I’m blogging about it.
• I may tell people about it but there’s very little chance of them actually visiting it