Tennis

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Tennis Court

Category

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

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate the location of facilities for playing tennis

	Source	Description
1)	ÖNORM A 3011	Frontal view of human figure with racket and ball, in front: horizontal double-line indicating net
2)	ON Testdesign	Back view of human figure with racket and ball plus two horizontal lines indicating net
	BS 8501:2002	View of human figure with racket and ball plus horizontal line indicating net
	O'21	Frontal view of human figure with racket and ball
	SSRS	Frontal view of human figure with racket and ball
	U.S. National Park Service	Human figure with racket and ball
	Aicher & Krampen	View of human figure with racket and ball
	O'96	Human figure with racket
	Aicher & Krampen	Human figure with racket
	Eco-Mo Foundation	Human figure with racket
	Pierce	Human figure with racket
	Nova Scotia	Human figure with racket
	Sagamihara	Human figure with racket
	PC	Upper part of human figure with racket and ball
3)	Unknown	Racket with lines indicating stringing plus tennis ball
	O'68	Racket plus tennis ball
	Unknown	Racket and ball
	BTA 1989	Racket plus ball in outline
	Pacific Bell	Racket and ball
	Unknown	Racket with lines indicating stringing
	McLaren & Braunstein	Ball with curved line typical for tennis balls
	Unknown	Ball with S-shaped line
	O'24	Four rackets arranged diagonally, four tennis balls, one at each edge

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

Discussion

The examples shown above are only a small selection from the wide range of pictograms and symbols for Tennis that can be found in publications and guiding systems worldwide.

Studies from several countries present research covering most concepts found in pictogram variants for this referent:

An examination of several sets of variants in Appropriateness Ranking Tests conducted in Austria (Gehringer, 1976 and Brugger, 1984) and Sweden (Gärling, 1985) showed inconsistent results except for the top positions. Presenting just a ball or a racket seemed not to be enough.

In the following ISO Comprehension Test series, conducted in Australia, Austria, Hungary, Japan, and the United Kingdom (Brugger 1987), the design marked with 1) in the table above performed very well with about 90 % correct responses. The variant marked with 2) reached lower scores especially in the United Kingdom and Australia, probably because of confusions with Squash. Applying lenient scoring the pictogram showing a racket with lines indicating stringing plus tennis ball marked with 3) performed just as well with 93 % correct responses.

In a later Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation reached a comprehension score of 95.9, an excellent value (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001). Fiori (2008) examined a map symbol similar to the pictogram labeled Aicher & Krampen, where 83.5 % of the responses were classified as correct.

Recommendations

Tennis

The results mentioned indicate that probably many of the pictograms in the table above will be understood well enough to pass ISO and ANSI requirements in many countries. To guarantee best comprehension, avoiding confusions with other sports in which players use a racket, like Badminton and Squash, should be a prime focus.

Therefore we recommend the use of a pictogram similar to public information symbol No 104 of ÖNORM A 3011 part 5 to signify Tennis, as this symbol proved to ensure a clear differentiation from Badminton and Squash.

Tests of pictograms of referent Tennis

Brugger, Ch. (1984): Reihungstest 1984. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated 1984-10-15, Vienna.

Brugger, Ch. (1987): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols, ISO 1986 Test Series: Comprehension/Recognition Test. WIEN: 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.

Fiori, S.R. (2008): Mapas para o turismo e a interatividade - proposta teórica e prática. Tese de Doutorado - Depto. de Geografia, FFLCH-USP.

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

Gehringer, J. (1976): Reihungstest über 18 Begriffe aus dem Sportwesen - Priorität I. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated January 1976, Vienna.