---
title: "On Pointlessness"
description: "It Finally happened 🥹 The Helsinki Airport has just installed the new compact bionic AI resonance nuclear blockchain reactors in the security check. Their main feature is the ability to empty a government's coffers at…"
author: "Ghaith Ayadi"
site: "Verbatim"
collection: "Hokum"
url: "https://verbatim.ayadighaith.com/hokum/on-pointlessness"
date: 2023-10-30
updated: 2026-09-16
---
# On Pointlessness

It Finally happened 🥹 The Helsinki Airport has just installed the new compact bionic AI resonance nuclear blockchain reactors in the security check. Their main feature is the ability to empty a government's coffers at the speed of light 🥳 it's a perfect example of a poor product.

Kidding aside, these new machines can scan bags with electronics and liquids inside. No more taking your laptop and toiletries out. It's a win for convenience, privacy, and speed.

And yet it's still a poor product because onboarding and execution are both part of a product and they botched both. Here's what happened:

I stood there for a while waiting for my turn and I noticed that every single person still took out their laptop. Had the product team conducted the most basic usability test on their experience, they would have detected this flagrant error: Nobody is noticing the new feature so it's pointless.

I myself did notice the sign, multiple times as I was standing there (same sign). I did read it, and I remember the graphic distinctly. But I still didn't know that I didn't need to take my laptop out even though it said so expressly. In my mind, it said: "Make sure you don't have knives, grenades, deodorant, or dignity".

So I read it, but it didn't register in my brain until the officer told the person in front of me to look at the sign. I was too busy listening to scandalous music and worrying if I had left any cocaine somewhere on my person.

So how do you solve this? Here are 6 non-dumb ideas:

- Don't hire your nephew to design your shiny airport. Or, Hire me afterward to demoronify it 🥳

- Increase contact points with the message. It's not enough to say it at the point of interaction. It's better to say it repeatedly along the way.

- Clean the messaging: a communication channel has a set capacity. Every new message dilutes the rest. So if you talk about leaving your anthrax at home, wearing a mask, your climate pledge, and the new scanner capabilities, people might miss the new thing.

- Chain the messaging: If you must have 4 messages, numbering them or putting them on a checklist helps.

- Don't get cute with the copy and illustrations. Be blunt. Just say: "Leave your laptop in the bag, fool ☠️"

- And most importantly, you need to capture attention: Be funny, clever, or original. If you can't, just remember that nothing rouses attention like a bikini shot 🥳

The more astute designer will point out an easier way to ease congestion. It's clear that the shortness of the setup lines rushes people and increases the errors which drives congestion. Maybe you just need more desks from [IKEA](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ikea/) instead of an expensive voodoo machine.

Anyway... You'll be glad to learn that these contraptions don't even work 😂. Half the people I saw got their bags searched anyway. There goes convenience, privacy, and speed.

So... Good job [Finavia](https://www.linkedin.com/company/finavia/)👏. Way to spend public funds.

![](https://butbut7wellsz5so.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/2026/mplq8ffm-on-pointlessness-img1.jpg)