Andrew+M+R09

Diagram one looses me right off the bat with its dotted line that goes from step one to step three. Even with the big arrow pointing from step one to two, at first glance I followed the line across the fold but then realized I was at step three. I missed the arrow because it came after the dotted line. When I read directions I will usually look over the entire process for a quick overview. This quick run through is what led me to follow the dotted line because from a distance it sticks out as a linking symbol between the two pages. It is also travels in a left to right direction which presents a logical flow in how I read.

The bike page was easy to read except for the arrow that went from knee to pedal. I am not sure what the designer is attempting to illustrate here because there is no distance or angel unit as are accompanied with every other line. It seems even more out of place because if it were a distance the user would need to be able to change pedal height, which is not possible. If it were an angle the user would need to either move their seat forward or backward, which is also not possible.

How to use rolling papers was a good attempt, but this is a pretty hard example to do on paper. The finesse required to consistently tighten the rolling paper in a circular motion is almost impossible to show in a drawing. Without prior experience I don’t think these directions would have helped me. At the same time, I don’t think directions are required, as it seems pretty intuitive on what needs to happen when using rolling papers.

The diaper example was the best and easiest to understand. Modern diapers seem very obvious to put on and take off. The one problem with using a cloth diaper is that a dimension could be added to help the first time user. I don’t know off hand the waist length of a typical diaper wearing baby, however it probably does vary widely over the diaper wearing years.

Directions for changing a flat, or inflated, tire should always tell the operator to loosen the lug nuts before jacking up the car. If you jack up the car first, then try to take off the lug nuts the tire will most likely rotate; this will make removing the nuts very difficult and even impossible. When you’re putting the new tire on, it’s also a good idea to loosely fasten the lug nuts before putting the car back down just to make sure the tire is on all the way. Step seven was also mildly useless, but kind of works well to show the user that they are done.

Creating image only instructions is very hard; and reading them while not actually doing them is not the best way to evaluate their effectiveness. Perhaps if I were actually carrying out these steps the directions would be more clear as I would have a better frame of reference and would be in a different state of mind. Either way, the ability to forgo supplying a written language is invaluable and being able to communicate without words demonstrates an understanding of universal human notions of how the world works.