Helen Hamlyn Research Centre

Centre for Inclusive Design

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DBA Design Challenge 2003

Digital Wayfinding / Roundel and Dalton Maag

Anyone spending time on a station concourse waiting for a train will suffer from three conditions:

A severe pain in the neck from staring up at the electronic signboards
A severe pain in the eyes from trying to decipher the text as it scrolls across or down the screen
A severe pain to the head as the implications of yet another delay or cancellation sink in.

Design cannot resolve the myriad problems of contemporary train travel in the UK but it can do something to sweeten the pill in typographic terms. Roundel and Dalton Maag, both recognised experts in the field have collaborated to develop long overdue design protocols for electronic signage that will help designers, commuters and computer users.

Some User Issues

Information confusing or contradictory
Positioning and installation of screen problematic
Level of illumination for display too low since it is intended for home or office use
Screen glare and reflections
Technology not designed to display type
Resolution on plasma screens and CRT is poor
Scrolling is disliked.

Some Recommendations

Maximum angle for reading overhead signs should be 30 degrees from the horizontal
Taking this angle from average eye heights to the top of the sign will give minimum reading distance
Character height should be calculated by dividing this distance by 137.5
Screens should be angled downwards to reduce glare and reflections, and reflections from floors and walls taken into consideration
Non-reflective glass to be used and angle of adjustment variable for each screen
Sign should be positioned to avoid direct light from windows, glazed roofs and overhead lighting
Consistency in graphic presentation, language and physical presentation
Humanist sans serif typeface preferable to Grotesque
Spacing of words kept loose to compensate for larger viewing distances
DMR (Dalton Maag Roundel) typeface developed as example of best practice
Few but consistent colour changes with test pages converted to greyscale to check for contrast and tested in actual environment
Scrolling should be vertical not horizontal with transitional fade in fade out preferred.

2003 home

factory wares
eye speak
digital wayfinding
life circle
ello
buddy

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