Quiet Please

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Quiet, Quiet Zone, Keep Quiet, Silence, Silence Please, Keep Silence

Category

Regulations, Behaviour of the Public

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate areas where silence is required

 

	Source	Description
	Achs	Circle with side view of head and shoulders, hand with finger near mouth area
	Eco-Mo Foundation	Side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	D'source	Side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	UIC 413	Side view of half-face in outline with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	Tern	Side view of half-face with hand in front and finger over mouth area
1)	UIC Testdesign	Clipped side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	ÖNORM A 3011	Clipped side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	ISO 7001	Clipped side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	U.S. National Park Service	Clipped side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	CNIS	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	CRRC	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area, all in outline and surrounded by a red circle
	HSSS	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
2)	UIC Testdesign	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	Aicher & Krampen	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	Dreyfuss	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	EJP	Lips, outline hand in front and finger over mouth area
3)	UIC Testdesign	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
4)	UIC Testdesign	Front view of head with headphones and eighth notes, hand in front and finger over mouth area
	ÖBB 2007	Front view of head with headphones smiling, head with angry look, text 'Quiet Please' in German

Discussion

Early versions of pictograms for this message can be found in the Symbol Sourcebook by Henry Dreyfuss published in the year 1972, a book by Otl Aicher and Martin Krampen in 1977, and the International Railway Standard 413, where it originally was used to indicate an area or a room inside a train where silence is required. As the compilation above indicates, only a few other pictogram variants evolved over the years.

Test results found in our database cover several image contents in use:

It was also UIC, the international union of railways, that initiated a study where pictogram variants were examined on basis of a Comprehension Test (Brugger, 1996). Four testdesigns, marked as 1) to 4) in the table above, were included in this research. The placement of these pictograms in the table also corresponds to the scores in this test, where variant 1) reached an excellent comprehension score of 94.6 and variant 2) a score of 84.6. A few respondents were not able to identify all elements of the latter. Pictogram variant 3) elicited even more wrong responses and components were interpreted among others as an emergency break or a ticket validation machine. Variant 4) was least comprehensible among this set with a comprehension score of 63.0. It elicited more responses related to music.

In a Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation in the table above reached a comprehension score of 90.8 on basis of a multiple choice test with just three distractors (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001), so data probably over­estimates real world comprehensibility. This variant was tested as mandatory sign in white on blue.

Recent research by Hung & Tan (2024) with a Chinese sample included the pictogram labeled with CRRC as part of the material used to study factors of sign comprehension. With a score of 100 % correct this variant proved to be excellently comprehensibel among the sixty-five students who participated in this study.

Recommendations

Based on test results available and regarding aspects like legibility/visibility we recommend the use of a pictogram like symbol TS0820 of the Tern symbol set to indicate areas where silence is required.

Tests of pictograms of referent Quiet Please

Brugger, Ch. (1996): Verständnistest UIC Kodex Merkblatt 413. Report to ÖBB GD 02 (Austrian Railways), Vienna, March 1996.

Eco-Mo Foundation (2001): Test data of public information symbols in Japan - Procedure for the testing of public information symbols by the Study Committee. ISO: ISO/TC 145/SC 1 N 329.

Hung Y-H & Tan Y. (2024): How symbol and text combine to promote sign comprehension: Evidence from eye-tracking. Displays. 83, 102709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.displa.2024.102709

 

Updated 2024-10-06 by Ch.Brugger