Sino Signage: (Street) Signs, Navigation, Interfaces, and Usability
When I was traveling around China, I was in a foreign place and had to rely on my existing knowledge to make sense of things. Due to the language barrier, I often had to rely on translated and image-based signs. Unfortunately, the symbols, icons, and phrases were not necessarily made with non-Chinese speaking audiences in mind. As a result, the verbal and visual translation results were sometimes confusing. Examples like those in the photo gallery illustrate why we need to focus on usability standards and good interface design in spaces we expect other people to use. The following gallery contains a set of Chinese signs and navigation aids that show how confusing things can get when interface and usability standards fail, and how they sometimes succeed.
