Word of the Week: Placebo Button

The Word of the Week is placebo button. Yes, I realize that this is actually two words, and is more of a thing rather than a word, but the concept astounds me, and I wanted to feature it. I saw this on Digg awhile ago, and every time I get in an elevator or cross the street, I think of placebo button.

A placebo button is a button which doesn’t actually do anything, but is included to give users the feeling of control. For example, the close door button in an elevator or the walk button at a cross walk may be a placebo button. This lends credence to Elevator Small Talk Tony and his profound question “do these close door buttons actually do anything?”