MCP 2024 - The Roach Motel Box

Course: Media Computing Project 2024

The Roach Motel is a deceptive pattern where it is simple to sign up or start something but challenging to cancel. For example, a subscription for an online service where the signup button is straightforward to find, and the process is easy and quick. Meanwhile, the option to unsubscribe is hidden behind several submenus, and that process involves many more complicated steps than the signup.

Our exhibit represents the pattern through an easy-to-open box that is hard to close again. Servo motors extend after the user inputs the USB stick, starting the game and blocking the lid from closing again. Then, you literally have to solve a maze and get into the correct holes to be able to close the box again.