Shower

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Shower Bath, Showers

Category

Public Facilities, Lodging, Travel, Tourism

Message / Function

To indicate the location of public shower facilities

	Source	Description
A)	ON Testdesign	Human figure below shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	U.S. National Park Service	Upper part of human figure in washing pose below shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	NPS	Upper part of human figure in washing pose below shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	Signs of Safety	Upper part of human figure in washing pose below shower head with water indicated by lines of drops
	SWISSTRAFFIC	Head and shoulders below shower head with water indicated by lines
B)	SSRS	Head and shoulders below shower head with water indicated by dashed lines
	DSM	Upper part of human figure below shower head with water indicated by two dashed lines
	WO'72	Upper part of human figure below cone shaped water jet, water indicated by lines of dots
	T & B 1984	Side view of head below shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	BS 5378	Front view of head below shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	UIC 413	Side view of shower head cantilevered over base, with water indicated by lines of dots
C)	ISO 7001	Side view of shower head cantilevered over base, with water indicated by lines of dots
	Tern	Side view of shower head cantilevered over base, with water indicated by lines of dots
	SADC	Side view of shower head cantilevered over base, with water indicated by three lines of dots
	Düsseldorf Airport	Side view of shower head cantilevered over base, with water indicated by nine dots
	Kapitzki	Shower head over base with water indicated by dashed lines, two faucets
	DB	Shower head over base with water indicated by lines of dots
	O'72	Shower head with water indicated by lines of dots plus two faucets
	ZRH 1978	Shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	Dreyfuss	Shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	Schiphol	Shower head with water indicated by dashed lines
	O'68	Shower head with water indicated by dashed lines
	ÖBB 2007	Side view of shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	Eco-Mo Foundation	Side view of shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	CNIS	Side view of shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	Nova Scotia	Side view of shower head with water indicated by lines
	BS 8501:2002	Side view of shower head with water indicated by dashed lines
	BTA 1989	Side view of shower head with water indicated by dashed lines
	Gregor Cresnar	Side view of shower head with water indicated by six dots
	UKFC	Side view of shower head with water indicated by dashed lines
	BBB	Side view of shower head with water indicated by several short lines
	Picto'grafics	Side view of shower head with water indicated by lines of drops
D)	Collins 1982	Side view of shower head with water indicated by three lines of drops
	Museu Blau	Side view of shower head in outline with water indicated by lines of dots
	Picto	Side view of shower head with water indicated by lines of dots
	EJP	Side view of shower head with water indicated by dashed lines
	Anikst	Side view of shower head with water indicated by five parallel lines of dots

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

Discussion

The examples shown above are only a small selection of the wide variety of pictograms used all over the world to indicate the location of shower facilities. Besides sources from tourism some pictograms were collected from sourced regarding safety signs, where the term Safety Shower is commonly used. Pictograms where the image content explicitly seems to limit general use, as for example is the case with registered safety sign E012 - Safety shower from ISO 7010, were not included in the collection above.

Data from research is available for ten pictogram variants, most also shown in the table above:

In Appropriateness Ranking Tests conducted in Austria (Brugger, 1984) and Sweden (Gärling, 1985) the pictogram variants marked with A) to C) were judged as most appropriate. In a subsequent Comprehension Test conducted in five countries with more than 1500 subjects (Brugger, 1986) these variants also proved to be remarkably well comprehensible, as 93.3 % to 97.2 % answers were classified as correct when applying leninet scoring. A few responses regarding A) and B) had a gender related content like Showers for Men.

In a later Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation also reached an excellent comprehension score of 97.2, an almost perfect value (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001).

In research limited to safety signs mainly among blue collar industrial workers and regarding graphical symbols marked B) and D) plus one image explicitly showing a safety shower (Collins et.al, 1982 and Collins, 1983), 84.5 % of the responses for the pictogram marked B) and 72.8 % for D) were judged as correct. Wrong responses in the Comprehension Test were for example Sun Lamp, Bright Light, and Watch for Falling Objects for variant B), and Sprinkler System Control and Wet Area for symbol D).

When Vukelich & Whitaker (1993) examined the effects of context on the comprehension of graphic symbols applying a Comprehension Test, the symbol marked with D) was part of this study. Percentages of correct answers varied from 0 to 40 depending on the amount of context provided, but responses were judged for the message Safety Shower, and with 25 subjects only in each of the context groups data may not be very reliable.

Pictograms designed later, like the current symbol of the U.S. National Park Service, were not part of the tests detailed above.

Recommendation

ISO 7001 pictogram Reference No PI PF 025

We recommend the use of pictogram reference PI PF 025 of ISO 7001 that proved to be extremely well comprehensible.

Tests of pictograms of the referent Shower

Brugger, Ch. (1984): Reihungstest 1984. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute, Vienna, 1984-10-05.

Brugger, Ch. (1987): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols, ISO 1986 Test Series: Comprehension/Recognition Test. Vienna: ISO / TC 145 / SC 1.

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.

Gärling, T. (1985): ISO Appropriateness Ranking Test 1985 - Redovisning av genomförande. Report to the Swedish Standards Institute dated 1985-07-24.

Tests of pictograms of the referent Safety Shower

Collins, B.L. (1983): Use of Hazard Pictorials/Symbols in the Mineral Industry. Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Standards, NBSIR 83-2732, September 1983.

Collins, B.L., Lerner, N.D. & Pierman, B.C. (1982): Symbols for Industrial Safety. Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Standards, NBSIR 82-2485, April 1982.

Vukelich, M. & Whitaker, L. (1993): Effects of context on the comprehension of graphic symbols. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. 1. 511-515. 10.1177/154193129303700804.