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Previous: CD player buttons | Main | Next: Jimmy Dean tag line
February 9, 2005 12:36 AM
Broken: Safety belt strap warning
Tim Hunter writes:
I noticed this "informative" label on the safely belt shoulder strap while riding in a Ford 15-passenger van. None of the 15 passengers could figure out what it was trying to tell us.
[Don't sit on a pillow while reading the phone book? -mh]
This young infant has recently published his first book, consisting entirely of the letter "i." !!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not the clearest, but I agree. It's 'saying' Attention/Warning, consult the manual when using child-seats.
Some cars allow you to turn of the front passenger-side airbag for just this sort of thing.
You do indeed need to be an expert to understand it. It means "read the owner's manual before installing a child restraint."
DaveC: My suggestion would be a label that read "Warning! Consult the manual before installing child restraints!" in whatever languages are most common in the country the van is being sold in.
The idea behind icons to convey information is that pictures don't require knowledge of any specific language as the image conveys the information needed. In this case, It's a bit difficult to discern the intent. To that degree, the icons have failed to do their job.
As has been puzzled out by some, the indications point to this being a caution that the owners manual must be consulted before using a child seat. The icon sequence seems to be:
(1) Caution!
(2) Child Seat
(3) Consult Manual
This is really a sentence put together from icons. It's a pictograhic language, but a language that people are not familiar with.
Warning, giant punctuation block may fall on child seat unless you chant the "i" spell from the grimore.
It is a pictograph sentence, however, the correct translation is :
Wow, isn't it exciting. The pyramids were actually built by short aliens with floating heads that could not see over the dashboards of their spacecraft.
These aliens resemble a small letter i when viewed from the front. Please refer to the alien identification book for verification.
This is a history of i. It starts with i having been born from a chalice, spends a life with many supporters, then is memorialized so many can read about the life of i.
Words, words, words. Too often, we are forced (by clients and corporations) to use icons when words would do a much better job, or words supported by icons.
Reminds me of another site where someone noted that their clients wanted an icon of a landlord, and to make sure the landlord was wearing a landlord hat (whatever that is!).
As another poster noted, use the languages where the van is sold. If someone can't read their native language, they shouldn't be driving a van, having children, or putting children in safety seats.
Contrary to what many people think, icons are NOT necessarly language independent! As a software writer, I have come across occasions where a particular icon has a radically different meaning in some particular culture. Just as you need to change the language file for certain languages, you need to change the icons for certain cultures.
Actually picture languages stem from cavemen times. I think the corporation had a relapse to an earlier time in human kind where pictures was the only form of warnings as to where dinosaurs were, potty's and the best hunting for buffalo. It is my best guess that they are saying do not let your child read the manual or they will hook up their child seat and drive away with your van.
(No, seriously, it lets them use the same label on all seat belts, and only print manuals in different languages.)
I tend to agree that it's done so that they can use one label for the entire planet, but I also firmly believe that it should be plain "english" (or swedish, or whatever) so that there's no confusion.. and that if you can't understand a plain text message in $home_language, you have no business driving.
"Why an 'i'?"
"'I' stands for 'information'"
In other words, in order to understand the pictographs, you have to be able to read English, or another European language in which the word for "information" starts with an I.
Did we really spend 6000 years developing alphabetical languages for it to come to this?
How about Caution, don't use with Child Seats, and read the manual. What are you, an imbecile. Next on This is Broken...your head.
Hey, hugh, speaking of reading the manual, maybe you should have read the previous posts before commenting. Most people didn't get a "don't use with child seats" meaning from this label. So if you're right, the label's broken, as most people didn't get the meaning. On the other hand, if you're wrong, the label's still broken, because you managed to misinterpret it. It's just not as simple as you think.
Umm...it means don't put the child facing forward in a child seat, and read the manual for details. Hope you don't have kids--unless you need them to help you how to read.
It's information for people who own cars with built in DVD players. It says warning Small children should read books on long trips!
The "i" stands for idiot which is what you become if you can't read.
I'm not a user researcher, but I'm sure most of them would tell you that a good metric for something like this would be how long it takes for a person to determine what the cryptic pictogram means and what percentage of people correctly "translate" it. This is the standard I've seen applied to websites. If it takes too long to figure out what something on a webpage does or if it is often misinterpreted, then something is wrong.
You've all got it wrong. It's a poem in pictograms. It says:
Ignoramuses, please take heed!
Don't have children
if you cannot read.
i think it says
CAUTION!: befor sitting on encredibly large cushion read a book on how to deflate a encredibly larde cushion
HA HA!!
everyone has obviously come to the consensus that it indicates something about the child seat (installing it, facing it forward… something) and the need to consult the manual...
however, i do enjoy the fact that, if indeed they did use pictures for people that cant read the native languages of the country in which the car was made... how the hell are they going to read the user manual or signs on the road such as "stop" and "yield", "diesel" and "unleaded"… the obviously couldn’t read the directions on the box of condoms
Erm.... in most countries that are not the US (see CIA world factbook "Countries that are not the US") icons are used for road signs too.
I don't think this is much to do with literacy as with speed of comprehension. *once you have learnt the sign* it's quicker to comprehend a little snowflake than "bridge may surface may be icy in cold weather" or the various other verbose variants I have seen around the US.
Place names must, of course, be worded, but then you don't actually have to know what a place name means or how to pronounce it to find it on a map.
In England there is a very ancient law that all public houses must have a pictorial sign outside. They were used for navigation. In fact, when applying for a license to sell alcohol one states the pub as "and known by the sign of..." rather than its street address.
cmon, kindergardeners
i am a teen and i got it right away:
dont put foward-facing child saftey seats in the front seat without reading the manual first
joe: It's not that YOU can understand it, it's about the general population. If 15 (semi)intelligent people in a van couldn't figure it out...
"Your child in de seat next to yours, is trying to get attention, but you are reading a book about yourself."
Beware! You may find dangerous child seats and books!!!
or
Hey, I have an idea! We can replace child seats with books!
I immediatly knew that it meant "caution before using child seats consult manual"
But as long as we are going for funny interpritations here's mine:
Keep dictionaries away from little people sitting on cussions in the car, or large triangles may fall on them.
Question for those who figured out it had something to do with child safety seats:
If you didn't already know that airbags can kill children in child safety seats, would you have realized what the sign was saying? In other words, how much does your comprehension depend on background knowledge that other drivers might not have?
In my 2-seat sports car, there is a sign that says: "WARNING: The back seat is the safest place for children under 12 years old". Doesn't that seem a little strange?
Hey, I would like to go back to the original comment.
"None of the 15 passengers could figure out what it was trying to tell us."
I know these 15 passengers. They are engineers at Ford. This is actually a surplus label from Boeing. I have seen this in the lavatory on their commode lap belts. It is much more practical in that application, especially during turbulence. The label really means, "Caution! If you run out of TP, use the pages from the book you are reading."
Another thought.
If an icon is supposed to convey a universal message, than it should be universally understood, right? If there is a mis-understanding of an icon and harm is the result, is it the icon owner's or consumer's responsibility? The lawyers can answer that. I would suggest that both text and icons are used until said icon is universally understood, especially when the icon involves safety issues. If the word "STOP" were to be removed from all stop signs, would there be a mis-understanding? Probably not because a red octagon has become the "icon" to stop. Maybe it would be easier to just bring back the Model T. There were no icons in them, except maybe Henry Ford himself. He was a true icon, wasn't he? Although he was probably mis-understood at times too.
Another possible interpretation:
"Oi you!
Please sit down comfortably.
And read more. It's informative."
Also:
"Attention!
For your convenience, the inside chair
Can be converted into a book"
Notice how the child seat is highlighted in the second pictogram. I conclude it is the main subject of the sentence.
What about this:
"A warning sign,
a child seat,
and an instruction manual
are included as standard with this vehicle"
Man, I can't stop now... this is so inspiring! I guess they must have felt the same when they were trying to interpret hieroglyphs, I'm sure they had a great time cracking jokes about them ^_^
Chris I think is right about the STOP sign and made my point more succinctly than I did.
The stop sign is more or less universal and in most of Europe is written with the four Latin letters "STOP". In some Arabic-speaking countries I've visited, and one European one not so far from me, it is written in the local alphabet/language. The fact that it is the *only* octagonal sign probably helps.
Off topic again, I know...
Joe, I disagree that it means "Don't put forward facing child seats in the front seat without consulting manual," as every other vehicle I've seen in the world (many UK, some US, some German) tells you NOT to put REAR-facing child seats in the front. My interpretation is that it reads "Consult owner's manual before using child seat in this vehicle."
Caution- Place small children in proper car seats. Consult Car Manuel for detailed instruction. (I guess they just don't have enough ink to print that all out on there now Do They ?)
I work for Ford and created the sign for this model. It says;
Warning, before use of child seat please consult manual.
Awe the wittle kiddygadeners weady foe theiy pwaydate?
u all . silly kids everyone knows the thing at the top is the WARNING sighn for cars , and in the middle is ALL YOUNG CHILDREN MUST BE IN CARSEAT , and at the bottom is PEASE SEE IFORMATION MANUAL. duhh !!!!!!!!!
Did you know that the things most parents do to protect their children from sexual abuse, are the same things that pedophiles say help them out?
www.keepyourchildsafe.org
This site has important information for parents.
***Translation****
sy565's comment's translation, for people who can't read Japanese(don't worry, neither can I).
"Expectation (perhaps by mistake it is)
Warning
Please be sure to use the child seat.
As for details please read the instruction manual."
Comments on this entry are closed
Previous: CD player buttons | Main | Next: Jimmy Dean tag line
Caution concerning child seats... please read manual?
- my best guess.
Posted by: rob at February 9, 2005 12:54 AM