The effects of luminance contrast, colour combinations, font, and search time on brand icon legibility

Which visual elements on packaging affect perceived credibility? A case study of in vitro diagnostic kits

With increasing public health awareness and the unprecedented global health crisis, consumers' demand for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) reagents is gradually increasing. However, consumer mistrust remains a significant barrier to purchasing and using IVD products. Pharmaceutical companies and governments prioritizing direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing have recognized the impact of visual packaging elements on consumer perception. Thus, we researched whether visual packaging elements systematically influence consumers' perceived credibility of IVD products' credence attributes, namely, their ability to protect personal and public health. Combining previous related studies, this study was conducted experimentally with rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits, assuming that the visual elements (i.e., typeface, color, pattern, and information) of packaging can influence consumers' perceived credibility of RDT kits and explored which elements are more credible. Questionnaires were randomly selected and assigned to 216 participants. The results indicated that all four elements influenced the participants' perceived credibility. Specifically, a sans serif typeface, realistic pattern, chromatic color, and more information made the participants feel more credible. Our research results fill a gap in the consumer perception of over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical products by providing new insights into dissecting consumer perceptions. This offers a novel design strategy for online and offline marketing and promotional efforts by different companies and governmental organizations.

Comparison of near vision in glaucoma patients using standard and reversed-contrast charts

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Reversed-contrast testing is easy to perform via electronic devices and may improve reading performance and the quality of life of most glaucoma patients.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices are becoming increasing popularity and most devices have easily adjustable contrast settings. This study investigated near vision acuity and preference between the standard visual acuity chart (black text on white background) and a reversed-contrast chart (white text on black background) in glaucoma patients with decreasing contrast sensitivity.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study evaluated 177 eyes of 177 patients from a single glaucoma clinic. The better eye of primary glaucoma patients (visual acuity of 6/20 or better) was evaluated. Patients with any other condition affecting visual acuity or reading performance were excluded. Near visual acuity was measured using a device with an anti-glare screen at 40 cm distance for both standard and reversed-contrast charts.

RESULTS

Glaucoma patients had a significantly better average near visual acuity using the reversed-contrast chart than using the standard chart (median best-corrected visual acuity, LogMAR = 0.12; interquartile range = 0.18 vs median best-corrected visual acuity, LogMAR = 0.2; interquartile range = 0.26; respectively; P < 0.01), with more prominent differences in the advanced glaucoma group (median best-corrected visual acuity of reversed contrast chart: median best-corrected visual acuity of standard chart = 0.12:0.2, 0.12:0.13, and 0.18:0.22 in the early, moderate, and severe groups, respectively, P < 0.01 in early and severe group and P = 0.02 in moderate group). One hundred and nine (109) out of 177 patients (61.58%) preferred the reversed contrast version.

CONCLUSION

Reversed contrast materials may improve the reading performance and quality of life of patients with glaucoma, especially those with severe disease.

Recognition efficiency of atypical cardiovascular readings on ECG devices through fogged goggles

In their continuing battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, medical workers in hospitals worldwide need to wear safety glasses and goggles to protect their eyes from the possible transmission of the virus. However, they work for long hours and need to wear a mask and other personal protective equipment, which causes their protective eye wear to fog up. This fogging up of eye wear, in turn, has a substantial impact in the speed and accuracy of reading information on the interface of electrocardiogram (ECG) machines. To gain a better understanding of the extent of the impact, this study experimentally simulates the fogging of protective goggles when viewing the interface with three variables: the degree of fogging of the goggles, brightness of the screen, and color of the font of the cardiovascular readings. This experimental study on the target recognition of digital font is carried out by simulating the interface of an ECG machine and readability of the ECG machine with fogged eye wear. The experimental results indicate that the fogging of the lenses has a significant impact on the recognition speed and the degree of fogging has a significant correlation with the font color and brightness of the screen. With a reduction in screen brightness, its influence on recognition speed shows a v-shaped trend, and the response time is the shortest when the screen brightness is 150 cd/m2. When eyewear is fogged, yellow and green font colors allow a quicker response with a higher accuracy. On the whole, the subjects show a better performance with the use of green font, but there are inconsistencies. In terms of the interaction among the three variables, the same results are also found and the same conclusion can be made accordingly. This research study can act as a reference for the interface design of medical equipment in events where medical staff wear protective eyewear for a long period of time.

Effects of Text Enhancement on Reduction of Look-Alike Drug Name Confusion: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Drug name confusion induced by look-alike drug names represents a serious health care management problem in practice. Text enhancement by changing visual attributes of look-alike drug names has been proposed and widely applied in practice to mitigate drug name confusion. However, the effectiveness of text enhancement on reducing drug name confusion is yet to be determined. This study aimed to explore the effects of text enhancement on reduction of confusion caused by look-alike drug names through systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS

We searched 5 databases (from database inception to January 2020) for empirical studies that examined the effects of text enhancement on reduction of look-alike drug name-induced drug name confusion. The pooled outcome data were analyzed using either meta-analysis or a narrative synthesis approach.

RESULTS

From the 351 identified articles, 11 articles representing 20 individual trials were included. Five basic text enhancement methods were revealed, including Tall Man, red, boldface, contrast, and size enhancement, from which 4 Tall Man variants and 6 text enhancement combinations were derived. The meta-analysis results showed significant reduction in omission errors when using Tall Man (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.628, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.018 to -0.238, P = .002), red (SMD = -0.516, 95% CI: -1.002 to -0.030, P = .038), boldface (SMD = -1.027, 95% CI: -1.240 to -0.814, P < .001), and contrast (SMD = -0.437, 95% CI: -0.869 to -0.004, P = 0.048), as compared with lowercase. This finding was also supported in our subgroup analysis by task type for name differentiation tasks. No other significant effects of text enhancement were found for either commission errors or response time.

CONCLUSIONS

Using Tall Man, red, boldface, or contrast could help reduce omission errors (ie, wrong medication selection) caused by look-alike drug names, particularly in name differentiation tasks. However, no text enhancement could shorten name search and/or differentiation time. Our findings could facilitate the understanding of the effects of text enhancement in the prevention of confusion errors caused by look-alike drug names and promote the application of text enhancement in practice.

The Effects of Ambient Illumination, Color Combination, Sign Height, and Observation Angle on the Legibility of Wayfinding Signs in Metro Stations

Well-designed wayfinding signs play an important role in improving the service level of metro stations, ensuring the safety of passengers in evacuation, and promoting the sustainable development of public transport. This study explored the effects of ambient illumination, color combination, sign height, and observation angle on wayfinding signs’ legibility in metro stations. In the experiment, simulated metro-wayfinding signs were made to test legibility. As designed, the legibility was measured based on the following independent variables: two levels of ambient illumination (70 lux and 273 lux), two target/background color combinations (achromatic-white target on black background, chromatic-yellow target on black background), two sign heights (1.5 m and 2 m), and three observation angles (0°, 45°, 70°). The results showed that brighter ambient illumination provided passengers with higher legibility. Achromatic color combination was more legible than chromatic color combination, but not significantly. Different types of signs, set at different height, did not directly affect legibility. Observation angle had significant effects on legibility. Visibility catchment area of wayfinding signs was like an ellipse, with its short axis nearly equal to the legibility distance of the sign at 0 degrees. The findings will facilitate the layout and setting location of wayfinding signs in metro stations and improve the level of wayfinding service.

The great typography bake-off: comparing legibility at-a-glance

Typography plays an increasingly important role in today's dynamic digital interfaces. Graphic designers and interface engineers have more typographic options than ever before. Sorting through this maze of design choices can be a daunting task. Here we present the results of an experiment comparing differences in glance-based legibility between eight popular sans-serif typefaces. The results show typography to be more than a matter of taste, especially in safety critical contexts such as in-vehicle interfaces. Our work provides both a method and rationale for using glanceable typefaces, as well as actionable information to guide design decisions for optimised usability in the fast-paced mobile world in which information is increasingly consumed in a few short glances. Practitioner summary: There is presently no accepted scientific method for comparing font legibility under time-pressure, in 'glanceable' interfaces such as automotive displays and smartphone notifications. A 'bake-off' method is demonstrated with eight popular sans-serif typefaces. The results produce actionable information to guide design decisions when information must be consumed at-a-glance. Abbreviations: DOT: department of transportation; FAA: Federal Aviation Administration; GHz: gigahertz; Hz: hertz; IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission; ISO: International Organization for Standardization; LCD: liquid crystal display; MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology; ms: milliseconds; OS: operating system.

The attentional guidance of individual colours in increasingly complex displays

The use of colours is a prevalent and effective tool for improving design. Understanding the effect of colours on attention is crucial for designers that wish to understand how their interfaces will be used. Previous research has consistently shown that attention is biased towards colour. However, despite previous evidence indicating that colours should be treated individually, it has thus far not been investigated whether this difference is reflected in individual effects on attention. To address this, a visual search experiment was conducted that tested the attentional guidance of six individual colours (red,blue, green, yellow, orange, purple) in increasingly complex displays. Results showed that the individual colours differed significantly in their level of guidance of attention, and that these differences increased as the visual complexity of the display increased. Implications for visual design and future research on applying colour in visual attention research and design are discussed.

Legibility Assessment of Visual Word Form Symbols for Visual Tests

For a reliable visual test, it is important to evaluate the legibility of the symbols, which depends on several factors. Previous studies have compared the legibility of Latin optotypes. This study developed a visual function test based on identification visual capacity for a Chinese reading population. The legibility of word symbols was assessed with three methods: (1) Identification of the contrast thresholds of the character sets, (2) patterns of confusion matrices obtained from analysis of the frequency of incorrect stimulus/response pairs, and (3) pixel ratios of bitmap images of Chinese characters. Then characters of similar legibility in each character set were selected. The contrast thresholds of the final five character sets and the Tumbling E and Landolt C optotypes were evaluated. No significant differences in contrast threshold were found among the five selected character sets (p > 0.05), but the contrast thresholds were significantly higher than those of the E and C optotypes. Our results indicate that combining multiple methods to include the influences of the properties of visual stimuli would be useful in investigating the legibility of visual word symbols.