Vending Machine

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Automat, Coin-operated Machine

Category

Commercial Facilities, Services, Travel

Message / Function

To indicate the location of automated facilities, where goods or services can be obtained against payment

	Source	Description
	Kapitzki	Hand in outline holding coin
	Tern	Hand inserting coin into slot
1)	ÖNORM A 3011	Hand in outline inserting coin into slot
	Renner	Hand inserting coins into slot
	Picto'grafics	Hand holding coin next to slot in rectangle
	Dreyfuss	Hand holding coin above slot in rectangle, crossed knife and fork inside of this rectangle
2)	ON Testdesign	Hand in outline inserting coin into slot, rectangle with two products below
	Kapitzki	Hand in outline holding coin, two framed products above
	ISO 7001	Bottle, snack bag, coin inserted into a slot at a 40° angle
	CNIS	Bottle, beverage can, coin inserted into a slot at a 40° angle
	PC	Coint with $ sign, rectangular vending machine with display and drink, output opening below
3)	Pierce	Rectangular vending machine with three products, slot in the middle
	O'72	Rectangular vending machine with two products, slot right of each product
	Aicher & Krampen	Rectangular vending machine with glass, slot on top right
	Dreyfuss	Rectangular vending machine with two legs and restaurant pictogram (fork, knife, spoon inside filled circle)
	SVG Repo	Rectangular vending machine with several displays and output opening, two slots indicated on right side
	EJP	Rectangular vending machine with display, dot, and output opening
	HSSS	Human figure, rectangular vending machine with five displays and output opening with object below
	Miraikan	Oblique projection of cup with stripe

Discussion

The range of pictograms shown in the table above indicates the diversity of variants and image contents available to inform about the location of automated facilities, where goods or services can be obtained against payment. While several renderings focus on showing a hand inserting a coin into a slot, some just display the front view of a vending machine. These elements often are combined with images of products available from the vending machine. No single visual stereotype can be identified.

There is only limited data available concerning symbols or pictograms used to signify Vending Machine or Automat:

Data from a Comprehension Test available for the variants marked 1) to 3) (Brugger, 2000) indicate that variants showing a hand inserting a coin into a slot in combination with individual products reach good comprehension: The testdesign marked 2) elicited 88 % responses with the word 'Automat'. The corresponding numbers for the other two variants are 45 % and 43 %.

Showing a hand inserting a coin into a slot requires sufficient context information. With the text 'Inside a railway station' as context information the pictogram marked 1) reached a score of 59.8 according to ISO 9186:2000 and responses included answers like 'Luggage lockers' and 'Coin slot'.

Some of the responses to the variant marked 3) like 'Snacks' or 'Provisions' may be connected to correct understanding, but answers like 'Buffet' or 'Restaurant' seem somewhat far away from the intended message.

Showing a Kaiser roll as in the pictogram marked 2) elicited wrong answers like 'Fan' and 'Washing machine' among older respondents. It should be taken care not to show local products if the general public is expected to understand a pictogram.

In a Matching Test with a set of 29 symbols (Zwaga & Boersema, 1983) the variant from the Dutch Railways (almost identical with the variant labeled Dreyfuss) reached 64 % correct responses as 'Food vending machine'. Symmetrical confusions with the two referents Buffet and Restaurant happened quite frequently.

The pictogram from the Chinese standard GB/T 10001.1-2012, Public Information Graphical Symbols, labeled CNIS in the table above, seems to convey its message quite well with about 84 % correct responses among Chinese respondents (An & Chan, 2017). No details are available how far answers for this variant were general enough or just had a strong focus on beverages.

Just showing a cup as in the pictogram from the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Tokyo (Miraikan) may be a hint for availability of water or beverages, but surely not work to indicate the location of automated vending facilities in general.

Recommendations

We suggest to conduct studies comparing more concepts than the ones tested in the papers available, including the variants of Tern and ÖNORM A 3011, but also designs similar to the variant from the Hospitality Symbol Signs System (HSSS). Only on such a basis a clear decision concerning a specific recommendation can be reached.

Tests of pictograms of referent Vending Machine

An, D. & Chan, E.H.W. (2017): Investigating the Comprehension of Public Symbols for Wayfinding in Transit Hubs in China. In: Rau, PL. (eds) Cross-Cultural Design. CCD 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10281. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57931-3_24

Brugger: Ch. (2000): Verständlichkeitstest ON 2000. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated November 2000, Vienna.

Zwaga, H.J. & Boersema, T. (1983): Evaluation of a set of graphic symbols. Applied Ergonomics, 14, 1, 43-54.