Whites gloves = Don't touch

In my one-day course, I show 3 rare books: a 1570 Euclid, a 1613 Galileo, and a 1704 Newton. Then my assistant carries each book, open to the title page, around the room so people can get a close look. We had a problem with people wanting to touch the pages of the wonderful books; and a few people would sulk if told they could not touch the pages. So now my assistant pointedly wears white cloth gloves while showing the books to signal that they should not be touched.

That is, unobtrusive instructions at point of use.

-- Edward Tufte, March 6, 2004

Packing parachutes

Back in the early 80s, at a jump school outside Austin, we taught new staff to pack the parachutes used for student jumping by using a series of step- numbered, captioned photographs placed under acetate on the 40-foot long packing tables. Most photos were printed 1:1 for easy comparison, and we placed them where each step was done. This helped the packer remember the packing sequence and presented a visible standard for each completed step.

The big advantage was the time savings of the licensed rigger who supervised the unlicensed packers. Usually a couple of supervised pack jobs, along with instructions on how to use the pictures, was enough. During the time we used this system, opening reliability was 100%.

Of course, the task is much less complex than some described above; it serves mainly as a simple example of the utility of point-of-need instructions.

An aside: I got the idea from a brief description by Peter Drucker of how women with no metal-working skills were trained and organized to become high-quality builders of an enormous number of aircraft engines during WWII.

-- Clark (email), September 10, 2004

Seatbelt/airbag warnings

These are excellent practical examples, which counter the unattractive seatbelt/airbag warnings on visor sunscreens in otherwise elegant car interiors, as noted last week when a friend let me test drive his Porsche Carrera 4. It must have been those distracting warning stickers that prevented me from reliably finding the gears (the little R-1-2-3-4-5-6 instructional arrangement on the shift knob didn't help that much, at least in my impatient search for greater G-forces). Oddly enough, the gear labels on my slow-motion pick-up truck are quite effective.

There are surely other point-of-need examples that Kindly Contributors can add to the good examples already reported in the fine contributions above.

-- Edward Tufte, December 2, 2004

Defribrillator button

Contributor Jeff asks why a human is required to press the button on the defribrillator if it's making all the decisions. The reason is that these units deliver a large amount of energy into the patient. You do not want to be touching them when it discharges and the machine can't determine if anyone is touching. According to the datasheet for this unit it delivers 150 Joules on each discharge, this is equivalent to a baseball travelling at 100mph.

-- Andrew Nicholls (email), December 2, 2004

Drug labels

Here is an article about an interesting redesign of prescription bottles.

I don't have much comment on this one other than I think the design of the bottle could go even further. The excellent article is enough to explain the point of use considerations.

"The Perfect Prescription"

-- Jeffrey Berg (email), April 19, 2005

A most interesting link.

Many years ago I was asked to help out Eli Lilly with some presentations of drug information. It was hard to make progress because of the collision between regulators and business, as the worst of both combined in putting together the warning document about drugs, resulting in among other things the microscopic type of those documents. But I did stay in a terrific little hotel in Indianapolis.

I was also impressed with the spectacular resources of big pharma compared to the FDA. I had written a report on the statistical analysis of New Drug Applications at the FDA a few years before--an example of a "statistical audit" for the President's Commission on Federal Statistics--and so could compare the slender resources of the FDA with Lilly and a few other drug companies.

-- Edward Tufte, April 19, 2005

Instructions on rigging straps

Here's a label on a rigging strap that indicates the great variability in load capacities depending on the rigging methods.

-- Edward Tufte, June 23, 2005

Bookmark shows detailed location in text

In this 11th century French biblical manuscript, a leather ribbon operates as a traditional bookmark to indicate the desired pages. But also a vellum tie slides up and down the ribbon; the tie holds a revolving bookmark. To provide instructional information at the point of need, the circle rotates in its tie to show either "Lege ad Dexteram" or "Deinde Lege ad Sinistram." These words presumably point the reader to the right or left page. That's pretty good depth of search: book, double-page spread, single page, line on that page. Readers probably did not dog-ear pages in biblical manuscripts all that much, at least in those that have survived for 1000 years.

Source: Sotheby's catalogue, Western Manuscripts and Miniatures, London, 5 July 2005, pp. 58-59.

-- Edward Tufte, June 27, 2005

Even better is this design (roman and arabic numerals both provided). Here is the Sotheby's catalog entry:

-- Edward Tufte, June 27, 2005

Egg cream glass, built-in instructions

-- Edward Tufte, June 28, 2005

Annotating sculptures

One-time instructions at a point of use, a design review and instructions for mobile-sculpture engineering of a new piece in the endless Bird series.

-- Edward Tufte, July 6, 2005

Address of car in parking garage

During a recent trip to Charles de Gaulle Airport I noticed that
every parking space is labelled with the floor, the row of the parking garage
and the space number.



The width of the information also defines the parking space.

What is also intriguing is that I saw several people using their
camera-phones taking pictures of the label. This begs the question
from a few months ago concerning the number of discreet items that
can be remembered in a list.

I was quite happy to have all this information compiled in a single
place for a mental snapshot.

Is technology making us lazy? There have always been those who think so:
Socrates on writing
Royal Economic Society on computers
Google on Google

-- Tchad (email), July 15, 2005

Control panel for cherry-picker lift

I had been looking for the appropriate thread to post this picture, the design that has been occupying my mind lately. This is the control panel for a cherry picker/crane. (Given the diagram, I probably didn't have to spell that out).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73106919@N00/27838692/

I find it to be an effective (and subtle) use of color coding (and color choice) as well as directional arrows.

-- Christopher Petersen (email), July 22, 2005

Numbered footprints in dance

What about those numbered-footprint dance instructions? Some searching on the web led me to this obituary of Arthur Murray (scroll all the way to the end), who I think is the inventor of the modern incarnation of that method. I recall that the footprints were reproduced in life size on the dance floor, and that they were numbered to indicate the sequence of the steps. Maybe another Contributor could find an example to display.

-- Scott Zetlan (email), August 8, 2005

Dance instructions are embedded in the sidewalk at various points along Broadway in Seattle. Here's a photo.

-- Erik Schwab (email), August 8, 2005

Relevant equation on instrument panel

A few months ago I found a nice example in an advertisement for an instrument called a PID controller which is used for feedback loops and control circuits. A front panel photo is on the manufacturer's web site at http://www.thinksrs.com/assets/instr/SIM/SIM960_FPlg.jpg; the main product link is at http://www.thinksrs.com/products/SIM960.htm. What I like is that the equation governing its operation is plainly written on the front panel. Symbols in the equation are used as labels for indicators. Inputs and outputs are clearly labeled. I don't own one since I don't really have a need, but I get the distinct feeling I could operate it successfully without the manual. Thanks to E.T. for suggesting I post to this thread.

-- David Shortt (email), August 12, 2005

Sequence cues in paper wraps

Japanese Onigiri (nori wrapped rice balls) have a very smartly designed plasic package that keeps it fresh while keeping the nori sheet dry. The packaging has simple numbered tabs that you pull on to uncover the tasty treat.

After unwrapping, the nori nicely wraps around the rice and is ready to eat.

See this page for some pictures. Scroll down to see the actual unwrapping. or http://tinyurl.com/e3fhx
Adi Shavit

-- Adi Shavit (email), October 31, 2005

Glow-in-the-dark trunk release with visual instructions

Here is one that I hope you will never need:

"...an ingenious pull tab that glows in the dark and has an easy-to-comprehend symbol. This is progress at its best."

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/03/adorable_symbol_on_g.html

-- Mark Harrison (email), November 8, 2005

Retractor for nose surgery

If you walked into the operating room of a plastic surgeon repairing the nose of, say, a trauma victim, you might see a retractor like this. The weight is sculpted in such a way that it explains its own function, but that is secondary to its real purpose: it is sculpted to proper proportions so the surgeon can grab the weight and hold it next to the patient's face to assess correctness of the repair, answering the important analytical question "Compared to what?" before putting the skin back over the cartilage. It might seem gory, but it is a superb example of information at the point of need.

-- Niels Olson (email), February 9, 2006

It's a Gruber retractor.

-- Niels Olson (email), February 9, 2006

Application to Packaging Graphics

I recently attended Dr. Tufte's class in Austin. After contemplating the class, I am intrigued by the idea of using the Grand Principles for Package Graphics design (in my case consumer packaged goods). As in a graphic, package graphics contain words (brand name, product descriptor, claims), images (picture of the product) and numbers (weight, price, etc).

There are at least 2 moments of truth for packaging - in the store in which a consumer is barraged with a multitude of choices and at the point of use at which they theoretically can review the packaging graphics at their leisure. At both moments, the purpose of the packaging is different. In the store, the purpose of the package graphics is to "sell" the product, at use, it can be to "re-sell" and/or to inform/educate.

How would the "grand principles" apply to packaging graphics? Would they change and if so, how?

-- Susan (email), February 15, 2006

Bribing a Congressman

Let us say, for the sake of argument, that the "need" in question is to obtain a lucrative no-bid defense contract. Fortunately for his clients, er, constituents, er, unindicted co- conspirators, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham provided a crude but helpful table explaining how to proceed. The table is reprinted in a Government Sentencing Memorandum. It is notable for combining features from two of my favorite data graphics featured Dr. Tufte's books. One of these is a chart used by John Gotti's defense team (a particularly colorful entry is "pistol whipping a priest"). A second is an old train schedule, bearing the names of those responsible (the present document is on Rep. Duke's letterhead). Duke was sentenced to eight years and change today.

-- Alexey Merz (email), March 3, 2006

The government's sentencing memorandum makes excellent use of visual evidence, including these images (all beautifully integrated into the text): the menu of bribes, copies of bribe checks, handwritten notes fabricating evidence, and color photographs of bribe payments (Persian rugs, real estate, a yacht, and 2 lead glass armoires).

Viewers should click through the pages to see the excellent presentation, which almost looks like a Sotheby's or Christie's auction catalog. I couldn't have done the sentencing memo any better.

This is a wonderful find [which eventually appeared in my Beautiful Evidence] by Kindly Contributor Alexey Merz.

-- Edward Tufte, March 3, 2006

Geoffrey K. Pullum on warning labels:

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003393.html#more

-- Edward Tufte, July 30, 2006

This Osaka railway car's reserved seating is identified the usual signage and by these icons woven into the fabric:

The pattern size is much too large to be mistaken for decoration and it is unsettling to actually sit on the icons, even when there are no priority occupants about.

-- Dave Nash (email), July 30, 2006

Firefighter facial hair instructions at firehouse

One of my colleagues is also a fire-fighter and saw this at the station. Fire respirators need to have a good seal around the face, and facial hair may break the seal. So Steven Segal, Clint Eastwood, and Arsenio Hall (well one black firefighter is better than none) have acceptable facial hair. Willy Nelson, Abraham Lincoln, Vladimir Lenin, the mystery Scot(?), Billy Dee Williams, and Geraldo Rivera--names provided by my informants--do take to fire respirators poorly

.

-- Edward Tufte, September 7, 2006

Instructions at the point of bird need

Birds sometimes crash into big glass windows that reflect the sky behind the flying bird. We've put Post-Its on the windows, and then Post-Its with images instructing the birds to turn away from the windows.Then my little bird-deflecting drawings were memorialized by baking them into clay tiles:

-- Edward Tufte, September 7, 2006

I stumbled upon Five Silver Dollars. The page is about the currency modification attempts of 1896 and is an interesting read. One note caught my attention. The author mentions issues with this ten dollar note.

However popular the 1896 artwork may have been to the public, it proved to be unpopular with bankers. "All judges of good designs and workmanship have admitted the superiority of the new notes to anything ever before produced by the Government," the Times reported on August 15, 1897. However, it continues, "Bankers have generally denounced them as the most unsatisfactory notes ever issued... the denominations of the notes were not distinctly marked. Paying tellers depend upon the figure in the upper left-hand corner, to guide the eye in counting bills rapidly handled." (Certainly this was a legitimate complaint in the case of the $10 note, where the numerals are a considerable distance from the corners.) Also, because of the high amount of fine inkwork used in the backgrounds, "complaint was heard that the new notes became smudgy and suspicious-looking with a little use".

-- Gary Roberts (email), October 28, 2006

Three measuring tapes

These three tapes are designed to reduce reference, mapping, and calculation. On top is a "code tape" that lists key dimensions from the Americans with Disabilities Act. The next tape has a standard sixteenth of an inch scale on the top edge and an unmarked bottom edge for penciling project dimensions, much like a carpenter's story pole. The two views of the last tape show a standard thirty-second of an inch scale on its front and a direct reading diameter scale its back, where each marked inch is pi inches long. The dowel's diameter is just over 61/64".

-- Dave Nash (email), December 5, 2006

Packaging with instructions included

The Director's Template is a film pre-production tool that has its packaging indicating exactly how it will be used. Since the template is clear plastic, the instructions can be read through it. The numbers of the features are also lined up to the numbered descriptions below. here

-- Bill Paton (email), February 9, 2007

The Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, California provides elementary Exploratorium-style educational displays of fish and their habits. One particular aquarium exhibit reveals seahorse reproduction methodologies, sometimes with live action. A flap over the front of the aquarium, however, blocks any direct view. Written on the flap are instructions for viewing (lift the flap) and a warning that those offended by seahorse sex may wish to take skip on this aquarium peepshow. Like movie ratings, these instructions at point of need probably have unintended consequences (such as acting as a magnetic attractor to 11 year-olds).

I first saw this flapdoodle a couple of years ago but missed it on a recent visit--perhaps it did not survive ridicule or else I didn't happen to see it.

Can a Kindly Contributor provide a picture of the flap, closed and open?

-- Edward Tufte, February 12, 2007

Found today during company first aid training:
Below is a photocopy of a face shield used for CPR (Apologies, I didn't have a digital camera, only a scanner). It is printed on transparent plastic, and the outline is laid over the casualty's face to protect the first aider from infection. The faint circle visible over the mouth area is a permeable filter to allow air in and keep germs out. At the bottom the instructions on how to use are printed. Simple and effective.

-Jakob Whitfield

-- Jakob Whitfield (email), February 14, 2007

Point of Need: Questar

Questar makes lovely optical instruments and their famous compact telescopes feature an elegant star chart on their tubes. It is described in detail here.

http://www.company7.com/library/questar/quedist.jan56.html

-- Troy Torrison (email), March 18, 2007

A few months ago in this thread ET showed some tiles made to warn the birds not to crash into windows. I was reminded of an incident when he was a youngster at our house in Phoenix. I have written about it in a memoir. At the time, I did what I could to make the window more visible.

Virginia James Tufte, from Pieces: Embroidered by Memory

The Drunken Robins

It was a beautiful clear afternoon in Phoenix--spring or fall, I don't remember which--and from a window I saw several dozen robins staggering around on the front lawn as if drunk. Others were flying jaggedly, just inches or a foot off the ground, then giving up and collapsing on the grass.

Actually they WERE drunk. A big pyracantha shrub across the front of our house, partly shading the west window of our son's bedroom, had been heavily loaded with red berries that had fermented and attracted the swarm of robins who had gorged on them and had quickly become intoxicated.

A funny sight but I soon became concerned. As I watched through a window in the family room, a few of the birds gradually sobered up and began awkward but determined efforts to fly. Three crashed their heads into the glass of the bedroom window and fell dead. I lowered the blind to make the window more visible. After a time, the rest of the birds, still groggy, fluttered uncertainly away from the house and gradually moved upward, some stopping to rest in a tree across the street before taking off again. I kept Edward's cat inside the house and phoned a couple of neighbors asking them to keep their cats in.

I have since read that there are several kinds of plants besides pyracantha--among them, holly and Brazilian peppers--whose berries under certain weather conditions will ferment and attract robins, waxwings, starlings and other birds, enticing them to over-indulge, become inebriated, and fly so dangerously that some perish. In New Zealand, a much larger bird, the beautiful native wood pigeon--the kereru--eats guava berries, and a large flock of kererus have been known to die by falling out of trees or slamming into buildings. In Sweden not long ago a big-horned elk became drunk on fermented apples that were lying on the ground, wildly headed after some children, and had to be killed.

Why did the birds and the elk eat the fermented fruit? Probably not because of any craving for alcohol but simply because they were hungry. The attractive fruits were there in plenty, just happened to be fermented and, once tasted, stimulated the appetite.

What at first seemed hilarious--those reeling robins--brought some somber reflection. "Drunkenness is temporary suicide," Bertrand Russell wrote. For some of those birds, it was permanent.

-- Virginia Tufte, March 22, 2007

From Joe Soroko, regarding the new IAEA radiation symbol:

link

-- Edward Tufte, April 13, 2007

The range of chocolate eggs sold by Kinder have excellent text free instructions at the point of use (i.e. after you have eaten the chocolate egg and opened the plastic container the pieces of the toy fall out along with the instruction slip). The range is now quite collectable and although I like the ingenuity of the toys themselves I think the instructions are actually better. More here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Suprise)

-- Matt R (email), April 22, 2007

I also think the IKEA instructions are pretty good. I have been building IKEA flat pack furniture for nearly 20 years and have marvelled at how the text free diagrams are consistently accurate. If you look closely at each step there are subtle deliberate hints that allow you to ensure that each physical piece goes the right way. In fact the best way to follow them is to place the physical objects in the same orientation and position as indicated in the diagram and then follow the instructions. I imagine there is a special IKEA department in Goteborg, Sweden [which no doubt has a Vice President of Diagraming] who design these sheets. It would be interesting to analyse the methods used in this type of instruction manual, all of which are designed to be used at the point of need.

-- Matt R (email), April 22, 2007

Apparently Ikea fans have their own forum for instructions.

-- Niels Olson (email), April 22, 2007

Talking of Push/Pull on doors, one of our offices has glass doors with "Push" on one side and "Pull" on the other, displaced so that the text does not clash.

They haven't reckoned with people like me who read mirror-reversed text easily and unconsciously enough that they approach the door and are confused by instructions that apparently say "Pull" *and* "Push".

-- Derek Cotter (email), April 25, 2007

Certain perfectly ergonomic designs require no instructions at all. The Ipod is a simple example of that, with only a simple control pad with no moving parts. Another example is the old mac keyboards that had an extended dot on the D and K keys so your longest finger (the middle one) could rest on them. Now they have gone to the traditional method of having the dots on the F and J keys like traditional keyboards. I now have to struggle to find the keys if I am not looking.

There are many more examples of these ergonomic items such as airplane controls shaped like the objects they are controlling.

-- Bill Paton (email), May 11, 2007

ET readers may be interested in a whole sub-culture that exists on the web dedicated to using Meccano model kits to make extremely elaborate mechanical models (see Wikipedia entry on Meccano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano). The sub-culture is of interest because they require the model builders to describe in pictorial and text explanations how to build the models from the standardised set of metal strips, axles, gears etc. They even have a standard set of isometric views available here (http://www.btinternet.com/~foxgrove/isomec/isomec.htm). I am sure that ET or one of the Ask ET readers could take one of these sets of drawings and use them to illustrate a first rate design for "Instructions at point of Need". British readers older than 40 will remember having their own Meccano sets as children.

-- Matt R (email), May 17, 2007

Have been using the incredibly ingenious "Powerblock" weightlifting system. There are 9 colours on the top lining up with 5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45 pound interlocking blocks.

You insert a dual-pin under the appropriate coloured blocks on the side and select only the right weights.

http://sportblock.com/blocks/index.cfm

http://sportblock.com/index.cfm

Absolutely ingenious system and simple and elegant instructions at the point of need.

-- Bill Paton (email), May 22, 2007

Drug warning labels

From today's New York Times:

As with most hearings involving the F.D.A., members of Congress today sometimes seemed bewildered by some of the technical answers given by witnesses, and several lawmakers stumbled badly over medical terms at the heart of the debate.

The F.D.A. officials themselves appeared confused when Representative Stephen Lynch, Democrat of Massachusetts, asked the three F.D.A. witnesses to look at Avandia's drug label and find its warning about heart attacks.

"Have you found it yet?" Mr. Lynch kept asking.

Dr. von Eschenbach deferred to Dr. John Jenkins, head of the F.D.A.'s office of new drugs. Dr. Jenkins eventually made reference to a small table in the labeling information.

"That's it?" Mr. Lynch asked. "You're not seriously telling me that that's it."

Dr. von Eschenbach said that the F.D.A. was in the process of improving the readability of all drug labels.

-- Edward Tufte, June 6, 2007

Alphabet crib sheet?

Here is an interesting little t-shirt for kids
who do not know the alphabet:


SOURCE: http://www.notcot.com/archives/2007/06/smart_tees_for.php

-- Tchad (email), June 7, 2007

worth remembering: www.youtube.com/v/aX0-nqRmtos

-- j.d.mccubbin (email), June 12, 2007

For rockclimbers the simple "Range-finder" system by Metolius has a simple GREEN (GOOD)- YELLOW-(CAUTION) and RED (STOP) system for placing their cam protection.

http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/camshome.htm

This is ideal because if the cam is placed too wide or too narrow it can be dangerous.

Placing cams http://www.mountainweb.com/rock-climbing/view-rock-climbing.jsp?rockclimbing=1128

-- Bill Paton (email), June 15, 2007

Climbing carabiners almost always have the rating (in kilo-newtons [kn] showing the strength rating: <--> along the axis of the carabiner, ^ | v along the width of the carabiner, and strength with the gate open This is an essential reminder when you are using the carabiner for a specific purpose. Picture of locking carabiner

-- Bill Paton (email), June 29, 2007

But how do I get to Carnegie Hall?

The NY Times is reporting that New York City is experimenting with sidewalk decals to orient people emerging from the subway. The compass rose decals name the street at the exit and point to the next street in each direction.

-- Dave Nash (email), October 17, 2007

I recently spent a few weeks in Ireland and noticed an interesting point-of-need instruction. In general I found the street and traffic signage to be between poor and nonexistant, but noticed that on virtually all of the streets in Dublin, painted on the street in the crosswalks is a reminder to "Look Right" with a directional arrow. For those of us visiting from right-hand-side driving countries, this reminder was very useful for the first few days while decades of left-looking pedestrian behavior slowly became unstuck.

Tom

-- Tom (email), October 28, 2007

I saw this on Technology Review feed today:
Water Jet Warning
Pretty clear visual instruction.
Art

-- Art LaMan (email), November 5, 2007

"Look Right" signs

I didn't see any "Look Right" signs in Australia, but along the Great Ocean Road these very helpful reminders are posted after each scenic turn-out:

-- Dave Nash (email), November 5, 2007

I was also recently in Ireland, but a different kind of signage caught my eye. On some rural roads, there are signs that say "Traffic fatalities on this road last year: 42." In America, all we get is "left curve, 30MPH." While it's important to know the speed that the road was designed for, I am struck by the directness of indicating exactly how dangerous the road is. That's the information that I actually care about, even if I know the road and will go around the turn at 45.

-- Thomas Smith (email), November 15, 2007

Different no-trespassing signs

Here's an interesting use of nearly indestructible old tires (which pose chronic disposal problems) for instructions at point of need.
I photographed these signs in early December near Madrid, New Mexico.

Here's the easel tire:

-- Edward Tufte, December 13, 2007

In the "PostED PRIVATE" photo on the top, on the right, beyond the barbed wire, directly behind the vertical connecting wire, there is a cactus or some other kind of plant that looks like a balloon-animal. Obviously, barbed wire is a great deterrent to balloon-animals escaping. I just never knew that people ranched them. Go figure.

Rafe

-- rafe donahue (email), December 13, 2007

Here's a highlighter, so complicated to use that the manufacturers have had to indicate where the lid is. An example of instruction at point of need, without thought given as to why the instruction should be necessary at all.

-- Deborah O??Kane (email), January 13, 2008

Gratuitous instructions? Simple courtesy? A subtle parody?

Perhaps the arrow+open at the pen end should instead be regarded as
a simple courtesy, a helpful gesture that will assist some users of the pen.

Arrow+open doesn't replace something else more important,
so there's no particular need to economize on instructions.

The annotation of the pen is appropriate and even thoughtful--and it avoids
a busybody or legalistic tone. In short, some benefits and few costs.

Now suppose it was perfectly obvious which end of the pen was the working end.
Then the arrow+open would seem a bit stupid. Or, better, it would be a subtle
parody of busybody instructions that are trying too hard.

In this vein, our prankish note at the top of our complete list of topics, "*** = 3-star threads" is
a deliberate parody of insecure and over-explanatory interfaces, a prank that has for years induced
the overly earnest, the humor-impaired, and the malicious into denouncing the definition of 3 stars.

-- Edward Tufte, January 13, 2008

Instructions at the point of need in San Francisco

Neon signs escape their usual flatland with these neon pointer lines. These instructions
are exactly at the point of need, and point in the very direction needed, in contrast to
flatland arrows which often point up in the air and down on the ground if read literally.

Source: ET photographs at the Palace Parking Garage on Stevenson Street (near Yank
Sing deem sum) in San Francisco, January 2008:

Nearby, other neon instructions at perhaps a point of need, along with a reference to the
tire-signs in New Mexico we saw earlier:

-- Edward Tufte, February 5, 2008

A great example I found was a map of the grocery store attached to the handle of the shopping cart. Details here: http://complexdiagrams.com/2008/01/07/shopping-cart-map/

-- Noah Iliinsky (email), February 17, 2008

Dave Nash's link the NYT article about compass roses in New York is great. I always wondered why nobody did that.

But the design is awful. It should be a big arrow pointing north, visible even if the person next to you is walking over it, and recognisably a sign not an advert. You already know you got off the train at Nth street, the question is how badly you lost your sense of direction on the stairs. (The problem is much worse in London, with deep tubes, than with NYC's avenue-lines. But their logo would be more easy adapted for this!)

-- Michael (email), March 7, 2008

In reply to the comments about rock climbing above: I'm not sure those are examples of good instructions.

The Metolius coloured cam indicators are good in the showroom. In the wild they are seldom visible while you're placing the device, and besides, there's a lot more feeling involved in placing gear that works than simply measuring the crack. Natural cracks are lumpy three-dimensional things, and using these lumps is very important.

The labelling of carabiners with their strength is a good idea, as it lets you confirm that they aren't the kind meant only for holding water bottles. But all climbing carabiners have pretty much the same figures, there are no situations in which the choice of which carabiner to use is based on these. (Perhaps rescue people do, but that's a whole different story.)

I've been struggling to find some better examples in climbing gear. There are some cute engraved figures on belay devices http://en.petzl.com/petzl/SportProduits?Produit=204 ... On the whole the emphasis is on avoiding mistakes that are easy to make when you're tired, rather than giving instructions from scratch. Perhaps that is as it should be, instructions on a photocopier will let you get further before you give up and have to ask for help, whereas climbing you really shouldn't be trying anything which (gear-wise) you're not 100% sure you already know how to do.

-- Michael (email), March 7, 2008

Meaurement at the point of need

This is an elevator panel in a water treatment plant.

Instead of floor numbers, the numbers refer to elevation in feet above or below the main floor, at elevation 0.0 feet. Even business cards and addresses refer to floors by their elevation.

Measurement at the point of need.

• Elevator-buttons-1.JPG

-- Jon Gross (email), March 15, 2008

Ice on the road?

New Scientist reports on a, "new temperature-sensitive varnish developed by researchers at French company Eurovia can be applied to road surfaces to warn drivers about dangerous conditions. The technique - still at the testing stage - might help prevent ice-related traffic accidents in future, the researchers say. The varnish is made of a polymer containing a thermochromic pigment. The same type of coating is already used to make bath thermometers and frozen food packaging that responds to temperature change. However, it is the first time such a coating has been used to monitor road temperatures.

EUROVIA

-- Tchad (email), April 8, 2008

Space shuttle rescue entry methods

I snapped this photo with my phone, so I apologize for the poor quality. This is the side of the space shuttle Enterprise, which is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

Most important is the square delimited by corner markers, with the sign "CUT HERE FOR EMERGENCY RESCUE". Presumably, it indicates an area where it is possible to cut the hull without running into blockage or important stuff on the inside.

Apparently, this is to be used if the other (non-emergency?!) rescue option fails, which is indicated by the arrow labeled "RESCUE". This arrow points to a button with "PUSH" above and "HERE" below it. The sign below the arrow reads (in all-caps):

1. Push button to open door
2. Squeeze and pull "T" handle to jettison ejection panels

The sign to the right of the arrow reads:

Warning -- this aircraft contains a cartridge-actuated emergency escape system with explosive charges. See T.0.0-105E-9 or V000009 for complete instructions

I would guess that rescue workers either would already be familiar with T.0.0-105E-9 or V000009, or would simply resort to the "CUT HERE" option.

-- Janet Swisher (email), April 13, 2008

Mac Funamizu has a very convincing idea of a gadget that enables you to get any information at the point of need. You just point at the object of your interest - may it be a street, a corridor, a flower or anything else - and you get the desired information. But read yourself: Example 1, Example 2 and Example 3.

Although it has the flaw of being a gadget you need to carry around, it has the great benefit of being able to communicate information about things that cannot communicate for themselves (like stars or a flower that may be poisonous) or that require different information depending on your point of view (e.g. a look at a building and your way towards it).

-- Robert Wunsch (email), April 22, 2008

Better shot of Enterprise instructions

It turns out I got a shot of the instructions Janet Swisher references on Enterprise, so here it is (the full image is obtainable via the link):

Unfortunately, the "cut here for emergency rescue" legend is outside the frame, and I don't have any pictures with that included. :(

-- Brad Ackerman (email), April 27, 2008

The ultimate tie

http://www.worldwidefred.com/howtie.htm

-- Bill Paton (email), July 30, 2008

Perspective

Below are pictures of Parking Garage signage that takes
advantage of perspective; like the advertising that is often
seen on athletic fields.



SOURCE: http://de-war.de/eurekacarpark.html
See also: AutoBlog

-- Tchad (email), August 4, 2008

Good design can reduce confusion and eliminate the need for instructions.

It can even save lives: http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/good-design-saves-lives-in-the-uk/

-- Stephen Hampshire (email), December 2, 2008

I recently saw this spatula in a cooking store. Did it make me hungry or want to go home and cook? No. The first thing that popped into my head was, "instructions at the point of need"!

Peter

-- Peter Newbury (email), December 3, 2008

Instructions in hand

Do more with hand writing:

http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2008/01/12906/

-- BW (email), December 7, 2008

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the US military claymore - with the famous "FRONT TOWARD ENEMY" marking:

-- Jack (email), December 10, 2008

Another example of instruction at the point of need. For those of you without small children I need to explain that baby "pre-shoes" have very little difference between the shape of the right and left shoes. This means that you can easily put them on the wrong feet or at least spend a minute or two figuring out which shoe belongs to each foot. These shoes have a cute diagram of the correct foot on the bottom, both decorative and functional.

-- Jane (email), December 12, 2008

So the shoe on the left is actually for the left foot?

-- John (email), December 13, 2008

Indeed, the left shoe is on the left in the picture, bottom up. The right shoe has a picture of the sole of a right foot on it. I photographed it the correct way up to show that the overall shape of the shoe doesn't particularly look like a right shoe and hence the need for instructions!

-- Jane (email), December 18, 2008

Meaning of odd label inside wading boot? Cleaning instructions?

-- Edward Tufte, December 23, 2008

Instructions inside wading boot - meaning?

http://www.whatapair.com/UnderstandingShoeLabels.aspx tells me your boot has a man-made (the diamond) upper, a fabric (the weave) lining, and a man-made (another diamond) outer sole. Leather materials are a cow hide shaped symbol, and coated leather uses the diamond on top of the cowhide.

-- Dave Nash (email), December 23, 2008

Here is a warning sign on a bottle of stain remover, which starts a chemical reaction once you mix the white and pink parts.

-- Tatiana Pechenik (email), May 21, 2009

The National Mining Museum in Leadville, CO -- housed in a converted former school building -- one is given "instructions at the pointS of need": a map of the five floors of exhibits in the Museum on a neck lanyard -- which one puts on; it is a route map, handy if one gets confused about their location, showing a purchased entry, and when turned in at the office/giftshop/exit shows they are leaving the building -- like the numbered brass used since Roman times to keep track on miners on their shif t-- and cutting the cost of giving every visitor their own map -- likely to be soon discarded.

This industry funded "national" museum was very interesting with a wide variety of exhibits, including two reproduction "mines" through which the visitor can walk, dioramas of the development of a mine from discovery of placer gold to the excavation mining of the placer seam, and biographies of mining greats, e.g. Herbert Hoover, Guggenheim, Allen, etc, gold discoveries and resources in the many states where it has been found, minerals, mining tools/equipment, etc.

j.d. mccubbin

-- j.d.mccubbin (email), June 28, 2009

Elevator panel at Texas Stadium (from anonymous reader on Uniwatch.)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/3697813324_7810f4afc1_o.jpg

-- Matt B (email), July 7, 2009

"Do not prop open this door for security reasons"

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1566

-- Edward Tufte, July 10, 2009

"Keep the door closed" works for me, but "Keep the door closed except when entering or leaving" is more specific and essentially means the door is there for a reason.

-- Bill Sharpe (email), July 18, 2009

How (not) to tie a square knot

At Camp Barnhardt, NC, boy scout summer camp, the Nighthawks program for new scouts shows how to tie knots.

-- Craig Pickering (email), July 19, 2009

The image in the response above by "Gary Roberts (email), October 28, 2006" seems to have been 'altered'...

-- Craig Pickering (email), August 29, 2009

Hawk-watching platform, Braddock Bay, NY (west of Rochester)

-- R.C. JONES (email), August 30, 2009

Dear ET,

I am just in the process of preparing my book for Print on Demand (POD) production in India after quite some years of it being produced by traditional print methods. The book is aimed at biologists who want to use quantitative microscopy in their work (http://tinyurl.com/m47c2c).

We went to some lengths to make the mathematical and statistical methods understandable and to that end included a fair number of practical exercises that require the reader to make a measurement of a scale bar in the book and calculate linear magnifications (when writing we imagined they were on a desert island with their microscope and sets of slides). We provide worked examples of these exercises and have found in the past that if there are differences between what we say in words/numbers and the size of the scale bar in the physical book our readers get even more confused over one of the things they already struggle with.

We have found real difficulty explaining how important this is to our publishers (they now get it) and have had to do the same for the new printers. The fact is that what is printed out by different laser printers is not dimensionally controlled.

Having failed to explain terribly well with words I decided I needed an "Instruction at the Point of Need" I sent the printers the following image this morning.

Best wishes

Matt R

-- Matt R (email), September 2, 2009

Thief 's knot versus square knot

This is a followup to Craig Pickering’s post of July 19, 2009.

I have been tying knots for many years. I started when my parents had a sailboat, and have spent many hours studying knots, splices and decorative ropework in Chapman Piloting & Seamanship. Sadly, (Scouting is an exception) knot-tying is a fading skill. At work, my mentor left behind W.E. Rossnagel’s Handbook of Rigging, Third Edition, 1964; which has a large portion devoted to rope and knots. Bizarrely, subsequent editions of this important handbook don’t even talk about knots!

Everyone should know a few knots: square (reef) knot, bowline, and clove hitch at a minimum, with a few variations. E.T. can attest to the importance of proper rigging to move his large landscape sculptures. For more information on knots, including wonderful animations of knot-tying, see www.animatedknots.com.

The middle example knot in the post above could actually be a thief ’s knot. A square knot has both free ends on the same side, but a thief ’s knot has the free ends on opposite sides, which causes the knot to slip. Cub Scout Pack 402 shows how to tie a thief ’s knot via this animation.

According to maritime lore, sailors would tie a thief ’s knot to secure things instead of a square knot. That way, they would know if someone had broken in. This idea has a couple of serious flaws. First, most sailors would already know how to tie a thief ’s knot anyway, and would simply retie one. Second, if the original sailor saw a square knot, he would know that someone had broken in—but so what?

The thief ’s knot and the granny knot are examples of a mis-tied square knot. Both are dangerous, because they can slip. Although the square knot can jam, and does appreciably reduce the strength of a rope, it works fine with ordinary rope material, but will not slip, except with extremely slippery materials, e.g. fishing line. For slippery materials, use a fisherman’s bend or surgeon’s knot.

-- Jon Gross (email), September 2, 2009

Idea of Dutch designer Martin Boskamp (http://www.martijnboskamp.com/): receipts are printed on eggs.

-- Ivan Poukhkal (email), September 2, 2009

For anyone out there who has ever tried to assemble or repair a radio controlled helicopter, you will certainly be impressed by this instruction manual. It contains nearly no words, only very very high quality diagrams, all full size! In my humble opinion, this document sets a high-water mark in the world of user manuals.

Cheers,
GF.

-- Gratefulfrog (email), September 24, 2009

.

The Rugcutter Trading Company once published a note-taking template for students of ballroom dance that I found more straightforward and practical than footprint diagrams, and that doesn't tempt the reader to look at his or her feet.?? It uses three "staves:"

One could add a fourth for additional indicators, such as pivots.?? Using this system the Foxtrot Progressive Walk (ladies) would be notated:

or

Both the system illustrated above and footprint diagrams are best used as review material.?? Neither is adequate for self-teaching or practical for reference while actually dancing.?? In social situations, however, most gentlemen have sense enough to stick with dance steps they know; what they really need is simply a reminder of all the steps they know.

The solution: a line of ladies' gowns that incorporate hardware at the shoulder (perhaps nestled discretely in a large silk flower) to which her partner can fasten a tiny flipchart--sold separately--with tabbed pages (one per dance) on which he has listed the names of all the steps he has learned.

* Foxtrot music has four beats per measure, while most Foxtrot steps are three or six beats.?? I find it intriguing that (1) this doesn't seem to be a stumbling block for students, and (2) I can be completely unmindful of it when I'm dancing.

-- Sharon Kittrell (email), September 27, 2009

Living stripplots

[This topic seemed to be the best but not ideal fit for this idea] Teachers have used a variety of objects such as M&M candies or pennies to help students understand the principles of graphing. Some have even used students themselves as the elements in a bar chart. At a recent "unconference", Allen Gunn from Aspiration (http://aspirationtech.org) took this approach to a new level. Allen had the 80 or so participants array themselves to create a living stripplot along a continuum from Agree to Disagree in response to a targeted question. He then briefly interviewed some of the datapoints (individuals participants) at various points along the continuum and the stripplot changed in response. This living stripplot seemed to be a powerful tool for gaining insights into the underlying issues and belief structures in addition to being an engaging tool for such a large group.

-- J Marc Overhage (email), October 18, 2009

-- Edward Tufte, November 23, 2009

The "NO STEP" on aircraft wings' flight control surfaces. (Sorry I can't provide a picture)

-- j d mccubbin (email), December 21, 2009

Here are samples of my signs for my show at the Aldrich Contemporary Art
Museum. The ambiguous lightning bolt plus the words have served well
to check efforts to climb the pieces.

The signposts are made from drops gathered up from my studio floor.
Drops are what is cut away from the original sheet in making the non-drop,
the desired sculptural element. When that element is interesting,
then its drop is also often interesting. After working with drops for a while,
I started to notice how often they appear in the works of other sculptors
(for example in Mark di Suvero's smaller pieces and in Louise Nevelson's work).
Excellent drops with rhythmic patterns are found in the scrap piles from
industrial cutting operations.

-- Edward Tufte, December 22, 2009

Some escalators in the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) have painted feet to indicate that one side should be kept clear for those in a hurry. In the past the feet were painted on each step, but when I first saw them they were seriously worn away. The new location on the threshold should be more rugged and give people a chance to notice the instructions before stepping on the escalator.

The pole on the left contains further instructions, including lights that are apparently remotely re-configurable. The suggested pedestrian flow direction is marked on the floor to the right.

-- Jon Meek (email), December 24, 2009

Train station schedule boards: Solari vs. LED

From Michael Leddy, Orange Crate Art:

"SUNDAY, JANUARY 03, 2010
Solari board
A bright new LED display will soon replace the schedule board at New Haven's Union Train Station. The board to be replaced clicks clicks clicks as its letters and numbers flip. Did you know that this kind of board has a name, or several? It's called a flip board, split-flap display, or Solari board, after its Italian maker, Solari di Udine.

NPR reports that New Haven's LED display will have a simulated click click click.

Related listening, looking, reading:

Solari board photographs (Flickr)
Solari board videos (YouTube)
Train Station Board's Demise Is Sign of the Times (NPR)
Tune Changed on Solari (New Haven Independent)

POSTED BY MICHAEL LEDDY AT 9:54 AM"

ET's thoughts:

As a frequent user of the New Haven train station, I have mixed views. The Solari board is a wonderful show, especially the click click click, but the information is very limited and lacking in relevant detail. The email (reproduced in the New Haven Independent story) from Pamela Sucato, a Connecticut DOT official, makes a thoughtful and nearly convincing argument for the LED change, although I love the retro look and sound of the old board. It is important that a new LED board be decently designed. The ADA compliance criteria will damage the design quality, however.

About a year ago, I investigated buying a Solari board for an artwork, in which the labels for trains would be replaced with cryptic art slogans ("Art is art, and everything else is everything else" by Ad Reinhardt; "What you see is what you get" by Frank Stella; and so on). Then the board would click click click sequentially and authoritatively through such art thoughts. But a new board was enormously expensive and difficult to obtain.

Pamela Sucato suggests in her email that the New Haven Solari board might be donated to a museum. My use would not preserve the train schedule data, but would repurpose the board's display method into showing thoughts about art by famous artists.

-- Edward Tufte, January 3, 2010

Swaddling instructions: stitched onto the blanket

Swaddling often pacifies 5-week-old Cecily. The instructions are right there, on the blanket.

-- Bonzo McGrue (email), January 4, 2010

How (not) to tie a square knot

At Camp Barnhardt, NC, boy scout summer camp, the Nighthawks program for new scouts shows how to tie knots.

-- Craig Pickering (email), January 11, 2010

Not exactly "point of need" but interesting indeed.

http://blog.flightstory.net/1472/kulula-air-with-new-funny-livery/

-- Bill Paton (email), February 16, 2010

Jon Meek: notice that this has failed utterly in the photo. The person with the carry-on is standing in the walk-up lane.

This reminds me of my pet hate in New York City. Any escalator or stairway in Europe would cause the users naturally to stream to one side or another for standing/walking or going up/going down. In NY the speed or direction chosen is randomly distributed across the width of the channel, resulting in hundreds of people pushing past each other each second. Observe the exit from the 4-5-6 lines at Grand Central for a perfect example.

-- Simon Pride (email), February 17, 2010

NEED: You're lost in London, but you can see Selfridges, and you need to be at Claridges for afternoon tea.

INSTRUCTION AT POINT OF NEED: A very comprehensive set of regular maps, indexes and newly drawn maps with axonometric projections of landmark buildings.

A great piece on Slate about the Legible London program now in full swing - [http://www.slate.com/id/2246105]

An example 'instruction at the point of need' for the Claridges appointment is below.

Best wishes

Matt

-- Matt R (email), March 6, 2010

Train Coach position indicator via a printed tile on a Thalys train platform in Belgium. Very Useful, since the stopping/embarking times are very punctual and short!

-- Albert Lewis (email), March 12, 2010

Here is an example from Boston, MA...
These are all around the city at storm drains that lead to the Charles.
Pardon the perspective - I flipped the photo in software (it is dangerous to
stand in the streets in Boston:-))
Art

-- Art LaMan (email), May 5, 2010

How to slice a grapefruit

I can't resist this perfect application of the "point of need" philosophy. After my daughter ruined one too many fruits, my wife provided the needed instruction with grace and artistry.

-- Bo Brock (email), July 5, 2010