Boccia

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Boule, Pentanque, Bowls, Lawn Bowling, Bowling Green

Category

Sports, Sporting Activities, Activities, Recreation, Tourism, Concessions

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate the possibility of playing boccia / boule
Note: Bowling is not included

	Source	Description
	Baden-Baden	Human figure throwing the bowl plus additional bowls, line indicating ground
	SVI	Human figure throwing the bowl, additional bowls on ground
	González	Human figure throwing the bowl, additional bowl behind
	Saint-Léonard	Human figure throwing the bowl
	PC	Human figure throwing the bowl
	freepng.fr	Bowl plus target bowl (jack or piglet)
	Pacific Bell	Bowls plus target bowl (jack or piglet)
	BTA 1989	Bowl plus target bowl (jack or piglet)

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

The number of pictograms we found in our database for Boccia is quite limited. Some resemble ones found for Bowling, others can be clearly identified as Boccia, Boule, or Pentanque.

In our research we did not discover any test data on comprehensibility of pictograms used to indicate Boccia.

To ensure correct comprehension, avoiding confusions with Bowling is important. While variants showing a typical boccia bowl plus target bowl usually should be identified clearly, pictograms showing a human figure with ball may be mixed up with Bowling more easily, but regarding a specific posture or complementary elements might improve differentiation.

Recommendation

Pentanque

We recommend the use of the symbol above, as it allows good differentiation from Bowling.

Furthermore we suggest to develop additional pictogram variants with a focus on clear differentiation from Bowling and other ball games. Then studies comparing several concepts should be conducted. The study design should also include a Comprehension Test to identify possible misinterpretations. Detailed information about the most frequent responses given in each of the response categories should be provided to correctly judge comprehensibility and get hints on how to improve designs. This then could be a good basis for identifying the best image content and developing the optimal rendering.