More than half of the tool holders were broken on our rather expensive PCB mill. Not only that, most of the bits were in the wrong place relative to the software.

I didn’t do it, but it was still my fault. The tool was on and accessible, anyone could mess with it.

Now it’s password protected.

If you don’t want students to do something, make it impossible.

We had a fire.

A hot air rework station spontaneously caught fire. The student wasn’t misusing it. The temperature was normal. Apparently no one told the tool it wasn’t supposed to ignite.

This is why our soldering stations are kept clean, so fire doesn’t spread. No one was hurt and the only damage was to the defective tool.

Tools will malfunction without prompting, make sure your space is prepared.

Do you know why buses are almost always late?

It’s because they can’t be early.

Missing the bus even though you were on time is a terrible user experience, so you’ll frequently see buses waiting longer at stops than they need to so they don’t outrun their schedules.

In order to always be on time, you have to be early sometimes. Without the extra slack in the system, the only options are absolute perfection or failure.

Learn the names of your users and use them often.

It makes your students feel like you see them, which makes the space more welcoming to them.

The secret is that everyone sucks at learning names.

Those who learn names well are just comfortable saying “I’m sorry, I’m terrible with names, I’ve already forgotten yours, could you remind me?” Then they repeat the name in their heads over and over.

"Can we order clear filament? We want to make our 3D print transparent."

"Sure, but let me show you how it'll look first."

They didn't end up ordering the clear filament.

This is a variant of a common question we get, so I had examples ready to show how students can make transparent parts. Before I had examples, students would order anyways, even though I told them the same thing.

Seeing is believing.

I never cared to bring my own grocery bag. Was that truly the environmentally friendly option given how much more energy is needed to make a reusable bag? That and they made great bags for cat poop.

Until I was charged 10 cents a bag.

I've brought a bag ever since.

No one had to change my mind, a small incentive changed my behavior. An incentive so small that in a lifetime it couldn't make a meaningful financial difference. But it worked.

What small incentive could you add to get more of a behavior you want in your space?

Signs aren't communication.

Enforcement is.

You can have as many "No open drinks," signs as you want, but if you aren't enforcing it by asking people to remove them, you are communicating that open drinks are fine.

Have you complained about a sign no one seems to pay attention to? Have you tried enforcing it?