Font choice: All the fonts used in this parking meter sign are bold
sans-serifs.
Font guess – Zurich bold? Possibly two slightly different fonts used between all the text on the right hand side and all the text on the left hand side?
The fonts have obviously been chosen so as to stand out to the reader and the important information is clearly visible , although the majority of text (mainly the headers for each point down the right) are all in caps presumably to indicate hierarchy, but this is slightly confusing as to what has been made to be viewed first because so much of the text is in caps.
Information Hierarchy: Number 2 and 4 on the right haven’t been very well thought out, the designer could easily have made the font size the same for each and fitted the whole sentence on one line. Instead number 4 is a smaller font size than number 2 and spread over 2 lines this looks odd.
The “how-to” steps down the right are most noticeable to me, not only because the background is a bright colour, but because the type is aligned left (easiest to read/most common) and because the headings are bolder or have more weight than the text not in caps.
Usability: Considering this parking meter will mainly be used by people in a hurry and in the busy town centre (so that it doesn’t cost them too much for parking) its not very well laid out in terms of hierarchy at a glance. I would have said the most important information (therefore what to make stand out most) would have been either the times at which you can’t park or the prices for parking.
I also think for people viewing this quickly, the wording of “controlled hours” should maybe be changed to something else so that its more obvious that this is when you SHOULD pay.
If I were to re-design this parking meter to better suit to customers needs, It’d look something like this below. So that the controlled hours/price were more noticeable at a glance, and the step by step instructions were less noticeable (because its pretty self explanatory how to buy a ticket?)
Font guess – Zurich bold? Possibly two slightly different fonts used between all the text on the right hand side and all the text on the left hand side?
The fonts have obviously been chosen so as to stand out to the reader and the important information is clearly visible , although the majority of text (mainly the headers for each point down the right) are all in caps presumably to indicate hierarchy, but this is slightly confusing as to what has been made to be viewed first because so much of the text is in caps.
Information Hierarchy: Number 2 and 4 on the right haven’t been very well thought out, the designer could easily have made the font size the same for each and fitted the whole sentence on one line. Instead number 4 is a smaller font size than number 2 and spread over 2 lines this looks odd.
The “how-to” steps down the right are most noticeable to me, not only because the background is a bright colour, but because the type is aligned left (easiest to read/most common) and because the headings are bolder or have more weight than the text not in caps.
Usability: Considering this parking meter will mainly be used by people in a hurry and in the busy town centre (so that it doesn’t cost them too much for parking) its not very well laid out in terms of hierarchy at a glance. I would have said the most important information (therefore what to make stand out most) would have been either the times at which you can’t park or the prices for parking.
I also think for people viewing this quickly, the wording of “controlled hours” should maybe be changed to something else so that its more obvious that this is when you SHOULD pay.
If I were to re-design this parking meter to better suit to customers needs, It’d look something like this below. So that the controlled hours/price were more noticeable at a glance, and the step by step instructions were less noticeable (because its pretty self explanatory how to buy a ticket?)
Well considered. I actually left one of these car parks the other night because I couldn't understand how long I needed to pay for...they are very bad indeed...
ReplyDeleteDetails, Steph: 'New Year's Day'!!!
and you spelled Tariff wrong.
ReplyDeleteyeah there a pain! New years day?
ReplyDelete