Elevators haven't really changed that much over the years. You get in, press the button for the floor you want and away you go.

For ages I wondered why even the little things that could make a difference to lift functionality were not implemented. For example, if you press your floor button and then change you mind, why can't you just press it again to turn it off?

Today at the Quincy Hotel in Singapore I noticed a nice, small improvement. When you arrive at the lift well the lift at ground floor has its doors open ready for its next passenger. Normally you would have to press the call button and the doors would open. Sure a small improvement but a least we are now seeing some changes.

The biggest change I've seen in lift design I first saw in Hong Kong a couple of years ago but re-experienced it at the new Deloitte's building in Bourke Street, Melbourne last week. There are no floor buttons inside the lift. You go to the lift well and on the panels in the foyer you select the floor you want to go to and the panel display tells you what lift to wait at. You jump in and you are taken to your floor.

I like this new design. I can see how if would speed things up. It's particularly good if you know where you are going. It might not be so easy, however, if you can't quite remember the floor you are going to or you've changed your mind.