McDonalds has announced it will open its largest ever store for the London 2012 Olympics. Its 3,000m2 spread over two floors with 1,500 seats. It is planned to employ 470 staff and serve 50,000 Big Macs, 100,000 portions of fries and 30,000 milkshakes during the Games.
Photos: dailymail.co.uk
In high-stimulus public spaces, our bodies do more than react – they strategise.
Airports, hospitals, and stadiums all evoke subtle “Flight” responses: scanning, pacing, early exits.
Understanding how threat appraisal drives behaviour can help architects and planners design calmer spaces – and reveal why relaxation, not excitement, predicts dwell, spend, and satisfaction.
Guests pay for days yet remember minutes. The peak end rule explains why a stay often lives or dies on one high moment and the day of departure. What works, what fails, and how to design the arc so memory carries your brand home.
Airports, resorts, and luxury boutiques don’t just sell products. They sell time — scarce, abundant, distorted, or timeless. This essay explores how time shapes shopping behaviour.
Retail has doubled down on experience design to win back emotion and attention. But when design becomes control, engagement collapses into performance.