This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

Around the corner from our office in beautiful downtown Oakland, California is D'Lowers New Stand.

It has been there since 1907.

For the people who live and work downtown,

it is central to our existence.

Everyone goes there to buy drinks, lottery tickets,

little packs of fruit-flavored cigarettes,

and occasionally even a newspaper.

163.

But about eight months ago it became clear that even though D'Lowers wants a bunch of people

inside the store buying things, they don't want a bunch

of people outside their store hanging out on the sidewalk.

Here's how you can tell. Delauer started playing really loud classical music through a speaker outside and

although I still see a fair number of people hanging out in front of the place, the owner says it's not nearly as many as before.

Oh, big change. It was mess that hung outside and you know just, they're playing dice on the street outside the door and it was crazy but

now it helps us a lot even the customer telling us they see the change on the

street here I'm the owner of the large new assistant. My name is Fasy Lama.

When you have classical music, people who are young and cool don't really hang out there.

So that's a way to deter teenagers.

That is Selina Savage.

And I am co-author of the research project about unpleasant design.

Playing classical music on loudspeakers is an example of what Selina calls unpleasant design.

...