Symbolic Confusion
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Transcript of Symbolic Confusion
Symbolic Confusion
How poor symbol design and selection make everyday products
hard to use
What do all of thesesymbols have in common?
They all mean stop—of one type or another
≅
Stop Fast Stop Emerg. Stop Spindle Stop Timed. Stop Stop Light
Progr. Stop Progr. Opt. Stop Media Stop Stop after last rinse
Play next partthen stop
Push to start/push to stop
Stop Browser
1949 PROTOCOL ON ROAD SIGNS AND SIGNALSSymbol A.16
➔ ➔Equipment
Stop
What do you think these mean?
They all mean “start”
Go! StartRecording
EquipmentStart
ProgrammableStart
EngineStart
EngineStart
Engine,Manual Start
EquipmentFast Start
EquipmentStart,
Test Run
StarterMotor
Start/Crank
Start ofShift
Cancel is somewhat more consistent
PowerOn (power physically switched)
Off (power physically switched)
On/Off (toggle, physicaldisconnect)
On (only while pushed;else physical disconnect)
On/Off (toggle, no physicaldisconnect)
Indicates On for a part of equipment
Indicates Off for a part of equipment
Indicates the stand-by state for apart of equipment
Indicates the equipment is ready
Arrow shapes are a keygrammatical element
Shapes and colors have meaning
• Vocabulary• Grammar• Syntax• Semantics• Etymology
StereoSound
+ =Mono
HeadphonesStereo
Headphones
Heat HeatedSeat
HeatedMirror
HeatedHandle
HazardWarning
HazardBroadcast
Alarm PanicAlarm
Safety Fire MandatoryAction
ProhibitedAction
Warning
Symbol Design• IEC 80416-1:2001
– Basic principles for graphical symbols for use on equipment - Part 1: Creation of symbol originals
Basic pattern size (75 mm)
Basic square (50 mm)
Basic circle(same surface area as basic square 2)
Circle (50 mm ⌀)(inscribed inside basic square 2)
Rectangles(same surface area as basic square 2)
Basic square, rotated 45°
Octagon; limit for symbols
But appliance makers don’tusually read the standards, so…
OpenDoor
StepForward1 Frame
Start
+ =Turn off part of machine and play music?
vs.
vs.
Keyboard symbol standard
Caps lock
Num lock
Compose charcter
Backward erase
Control
Escape
Home
End
Prev. page
Next page
Alternate
Undo
Insert
Enter
Return
Actual keyboard symbols in use
Even Apple doesn’t get it right!
IEC standard 60417 says this symbol is a “bell”, as in “doorbell”, but iPhone uses it for the ringer control. And without reading the standards, the most common understanding associates this symbol with alarms—witness most elevator alarm buttons.
But the iPhone documentation shows that activating the Ring/Silent switch doesn’t silence all sounds—it is more selective than that. It silences the ringer, text alerts, calendar alerts, and effects sounds, but not clock alarms. A better display would be:
Telephone Ringer off
Clock Alarms on
Alerts off
Sound Effects off
Vibrating on
iPhone vs. ITU symbols
Previous/Next & Beginning/End
Play next part and then stop
Fast-Forward
Step Forward one frame
Goto start of the currentmedia object
Play Next page
Prev. page
Home
End
Adobe Acrobat page navigation
Media Playback Controls Document Navigation Controls
Must-Read List
• Symbol Sourcebook (Dreyfuss)• Symbol Signs (AIGA)• Graphical-Symbols.info ($500 + $150/year)• Official Signs & Icons 2 ($250;
UltimateSymbol.com)• + relevant ISO & IEC standards ($$$)
Symbol Standards Bodies
• IEC 60417—Graphical Symbols for Use on Equipment• ISO TC 145—Graphical Symbols
– SC1: Public Information Symbols (ISO 7001)– SC2: Safety Colors & Signs (ISO 7010)– SC3: Symbols for Use on Equipment (ISO 7000/IEC 60417)
• ISO TC 159—Ergonomics– SC4: Ergonomics of human-system interaction
• ISO/IEC JTC 1—Information Technology– SC35: User Interfaces– SC37: Biometrics
Key Takeaways
• Very few designers pay attention to standards and existing conventions
• Designers mostly copy each other (often getting it wrong) or invent new, poor symbols
• Even the symbol design committees don’t do everything well, or even read each other’s existing work often enough
• Many official symbols haven’t been tested for comprehensibility
Contact Me
Peter Sheerin
http://PetesGuide.com/
+1 650 898 7383