We manage attention by managing the brightness of the sig-
nal in the context of the noise that surrounds it. A bright traffic light grabs our attention because it is elevated slightly above the visual noise of the street, and it is brighter than the matte black background that surrounds the light. Biologically, bright objects command our attention because the part of the eye that pro- vides the sharpest vision, the fovea, emphasizes normal light and de-emphasizes low light. So using a bright color like National School Bus Glossy Yellow is an excellent choice for our buses, be- cause it is easier to see clearly. Tis gets back to our bias for efficiency. If a message is easy to
see, to focus on, there are no barriers to attention and we will attend to it and learn it and allow it to influence our behavior. I recently conducted an eye-tracking study on standard bus
safety messages at Bentley University’s Design and Usability Cen- ter. I prepared a set of images of public service vehicles, including a photo of the back of a school bus. Results indicated that us- ers were focusing on a number of different locations. Tis “focus map” compiles the results from 11 users, each of whom had a three-second window to view the image. Ideally, the design of the information would quickly guide the
user’s attention to the key message, which is “DO NOT PASS WHEN RED LIGHTS ARE FLASHING.” Teoretically, this focus map is showing something positive, that the test participants were indeed looking at the safety instructions. I would argue, however, that there are issues with both the placement and the formatting of this message and that these results actually indicate that viewers are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with this message. Let’s start with the placement of the message. When a bus is
discharging passengers, the red lights at the top of the bus be- gin to flash and our attention is instantly attracted to them. But there’s no instructional message for us there, just the words ”SCHOOL BUS.” Te lights are telling us there is a behavior we are expected to comply with so we are unlikely to simply ignore them outright. But the co-opting of our attention by the flash- ing lights can make it difficult to find the key message, which is located a few feet below the flashing lights on the middle of the door: “DO NOT PASS WHEN RED LIGHTS ARE FLASHING.” If we do find the key message, we might think it’s related to
the indicator lights right next to it, which also flash from time to time. Tere is a psychological principle known as “gestalt” that suggests that we try to make sense of scenes immediately by making associations between the components within view. Primarily, we like to group objects because it reduces the number of items that we have to understand. Te current information design of our school buses separates the signal from the message. Tis can incur a “split attention” effect, which reduces our ability to make good decisions and reduces the likelihood that we will comply with the expected behavior. Keeping in mind different states have different signage rules,
my first suggestion is to move that message up and replace the “SCHOOL BUS” message with “Do not pass when lights are flash- ing.” Now, when the lights flash and driver attention is directed to this location, the driver will see the key message relevant to their actions at that moment.
Top: This “focus map” depicts how 11 research subjects processed the current messaging on the rear of a school bus in Massachusetts. The subjects had three seconds each to view the photo. Bottom: This is Bollen’s recommendations for altering school bus markings to make the most sense to motorists. It is based on tracking how the human brain processes the message and the proximity of the message to the call to action.
Additionally, I recommend formatting the message using
sentence case instead of upper case. Upper case is a very bright signal itself, and is often interpreted as shouting when used in emails or text messages. It can also incur biological fatigue. Why? Because we have robbed the word of a shape. Humans do not read words one letter at a time; we consume words and even chunks of sentences at a time. To do this, studies have shown that we recognize words by their shape. Tis type of biological fatigue leads to inattentive behavior as
a measure of self-preservation kicks in and we try to conserve energy. Te safety message “UNLAWFUL TO PASS WHEN RED LIGHTS ARE FLASHING” risks incurring inattentive behavior in drivers because it’s harder to read and understand than it needs to be. A sentence-case version of the message “Do not pass when
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