"I don't think it means what you think it means."
Kathy Sierra points out a fine example of a graphic that doesn’t say quite what the designers intended.
The picture above is a sign posted at a local trailhead. What does it mean? (Getting it wrong, by the way, means a $50 fine.) It’s supposed to mean, “Each human can have no more than two dogs under their control.” (this is a leash-optional trail) And while most people could—after cocking their head to the side—figure it out, I have to laugh about what else this sign says like:
“You can have a German Shepard, and an Old English Sheepdog, but SPRINGER SPANIELS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED!”
Go check out the post to see the image, and you’ll understand. Kathy uses this example to launch into a discussion of some general design principles, but I’d add one more idea to her list: Test your message, whether it’s an image or text.
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’ve been interviewing people about plain language. And one thing that keeps coming up over and over is the need to test your message on its intended audience, to be sure that the meaning they get from it is the meaning you intend. In the example Kathy showed, it would have been a simple matter to show the sign to a few people and say “What do you think this means?”
Why is testing so important? Because we assume that something that’s perfectly clear to us will be just as clear to everyone else. That assumption often falls apart in the real world. For example, the Veterans Benefits Administration learned that their audience wasn’t sure what the term “gainful employment” meant when they tested a letter. It seemed clear to the writers of the letter, but it wasn’t clear to the intended recipients. A simple re-write before they sent out the letter saved everyone a lot of confusion.
Test your message. Even if you only get a chance to ask someone in a nearby cube, have them read your message, and then ask “In your own words, what does that mean to you?”
Roy Jacobsen
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