Closed

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Shut, Locked, Unavailable, Service Suspended

Category

Status, Services

Message / Function

To indicate the cessation or suspension of a service or facility

	Source	Description
	Icograda	Human figure closing folding door with arrows pointing towards figure
1)	Icograda	Side view of human figure standing next to square with rounded corners
	Icograda	Hand in front of partially closed roller shutters, arrow pointing downwards
	Scarlett Mckay	Hanging sign displaying diagonal cross
	Smashicons	Hanging sign displaying diagonal cross
	Adrien Coquet	Hanging sign displaying closed padlock
	Adrien Coquet	Closed padlock below roof with chimney
2)	Icograda	Door closed with bar and padlock, all in outline
	Icograda	Closed gate with padlock
	Icograda	Square with vertical line in the center, closed padlock in front
3)	Icograda	Closed padlock
	Icograda	Closed padlock
	Icograda	Closed padlock partially in outline
	Icograda	Square with rounded corners and opening on the right, diagonal cross inside opening
	ISO 7000	Rectangle with opening at top, circle on one side of the opening, bold line indicating closed gate
	Icograda	Arrow pointing upwarts towards rectangle with rounded corners at top and bold line at bottom in three parts
	Icograda	Arrow pointing upwards towards opening between two horizontal bars with round ends where they are almost touching each other
	Icograda	Horizontal arrows pointing from edge towards two vertical bars in center
	Icograda	Two connected chain links
	Icograda	240° arc, ends connected by horizontal line
	ISO 7000	Square with diagonals forming cross, all lines bold
	Bliss	Square with bold lines
	Icograda	Bold horizontal bar
	UN 1968	Red circle, filled in white
	In-Safety	Rendering of road leading into tunnel, disk with red frame in center
	In-Safety	Vertical line ending at red circle, line with arrow head branching off
	In-Safety	Arrow pointing upwards, line branching off, orthogonal bold red bar at end of branch
	In-Safety	Arrow pointing upwards, line branching off with red and black dashes, x at end of branch
	Tern	Road climbing flank of mountain with several turns, crossed out with red diagonal cross
	In-Safety	Bent line leading to ditch in irregular shape indicating mountains, crossed out with diagonal slash

Discussion

The range of pictograms shown in the table above gives a good hint of the diversity of variants and image contents in our database to indicate the cessation or suspension of a service or facility. As with the referent Open, prior to the efforts of the Icograda student project (Frascara) only few graphical symbols representing this message existed. While many designs focus on showing a rendering of a closed padlock, others experiment with versions of doors, sometimes in combination with a human figure, or a diagonal cross in some context. Also completely abstract symbols exist. No single visual stereotype can be identified.

Several papers present research covering quite a few pictograms available for this referent:

In the context of the Icograda student project and the ISO test series 1979/80 (Easterby & Graydon, 1981 a) more than 30 pictogram variants intended for the message Closed were examined using the Appropriateness Ranking method. Also regarding variants tested for the referent Open, three pictograms of the set judged as most appropriate subsequently were selected for further research on basis of a Comprehension Test (Easterby & Graydon, 1981 b, graphic symbols marked 1) to 3) in the table above). None of the variants tested for comprehension reached an acceptable number of correct responses. Among these three variants, the pictogram labeled 3) performed best with 22.1 % answers classified as correct, and for the design with the label 1), showing a human figure standing next to a square with rounded corners, almost two thirds of the persons participating did not respond at all or indicated not to know what it could mean. Wrong answers found for this referent were, among others: Men, Men Not Admitted, Toilets, Information, Entrance, Exit, Keep Window Closed, X-ray Area, Scanner, Lock, No Locks, Store, Safe, Prison, Elevator, Locksmith. No data about the frequency of specific wrong answers is available. Regarding the fact, that no context information was offered, the results of that study should be interpreted with care.

In three studies of the In-Safety project, concerning Variable Message Signs (VMS) for the Trans-European Road Network, also comprehensibility of a total of more than thirty pictogram variants for messages like Road ahead closed, Pass ahead is closed, Tunnel ahead is closed, Bridge ahead is closed, and Next exit closed was examined (Brugger, 2006, Siebenhandl et.al., 2007 a and b). All of the image contents tested were very specific and not applicable for the general message discussed here, but the results might offer some relevant information. At the bottom of the table above we included six examples of such pictograms, each indicating some kind of closed facility in a different way.

Of the 35 pictogram variants of this project examined using the Comprehensibility Estimation procedure (Brugger, 2006), only a few were judged as well comprehensible, and mean estimation scores ranged from 30.3 to 78.8. None of the elements used to indicated the message Closed was rated best consistently.

In two follow-up Comprehension Tests (Siebenhandl et.al., 2007 a and b) a total of 16 graphical symbols for six traffic related messages were examined. In these studies variants showing sign C, 2, 'CLOSED TO ALL VEHICLES IN BOTH DIRECTIONS' from the 20. Convention on Road Signs and Signals as additional element indicating Closed usually was superior to pictograms with crossed out elements or just a diagonal slash in front of a symbol representing the closed facility. It must be mentioned that only persons holding a driving license participated in this study and that the education level of the respondents was above average.

The absence of a visual stereotype as well as the results available indicate that it might be difficult to develop a generally comprehensible graphical symbol to indicate the cessation or suspension of a service or facility.

Recommendations

As no data is available on comprehensibility of many of the concepts shown, and no context information was presented in some of the studies available, we suggest to select the most appropriate designs from all concepts using the Comprehensibility Estimation Procedure, and then to conduct a Comprehension Test for the best graphical symbols of that preselection. Providing sufficient context information seems to be very relevant when testing comprehensibility of variants for this referent. Detailed information about the most frequent responses given in each of the response categories should be provided to correctly judge comprehensibility and improve designs.

Tests of pictograms of referent Closed

Brugger, Ch. (2006): Comprehensibility Judgement Test. Report In-Safety, 506716.

Easterby, R.S. & Graydon, I.R. (1981 a): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols: ISO Test: 1979/80 Series. Part I: Appropriateness Ranking Tests. AP Report 99, Applied Psychology Department, University of Aston in Birmingham, January 1981.

Easterby, R.S. & Graydon, I.R. (1981 b): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols: ISO 1979/80 Test Series. Part II: Comprehension/Recognition Tests. AP Report 100, Applied Psychology Department, University of Aston in Birmingham, January 1981.

Siebenhandl, K., Brugger, Ch., Simlinger, P., Egger, S., Hollo, P., Weinberger, J., Vasek, J. (2007 a): Results of the Comprehension Tests on pictograms conducted in Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary; Report In-Safety, 506716.

Siebenhandl, K., Brugger, Ch., Simlinger, P., Egger, S., Hollo, P., Weinberger, J., Vasek, J. (2007 b): Results of the 2^nd Comprehension Tests on pictograms conducted in Austria and the Czech Republic; Report In-Safety, 506716.