The other day I took the bus on the way to the university and came across a usual sight in some Costa Rican buses, especially on buses for interprovincial or intercity commutes. A un-responsive interface. In this case above head reading lights. I know for a fact that finding a bus where this non essential travel equipment actually works would be a miracle. But what about tourists.One of the main Costa Rican industries is tourism. And they don’t share the same body of local knowledge that let me not to expect this things to work. Would concealing the reading lights make their experience and our experience as citizens a better one?
Or should them like us become use to the fact that we shouldn’t expect most things to work properly or as they are supposed to work.
This non responsive interface also sometimes extends to the local institutions and sometimes when you “crash” against private companies own culture. Should companies and institutions be aware of the nuances that their handling of matters cause to the public?
Most of the time I think that they should invest money in research that would improve their relationship to the public and in some cases loyalty to a certain brand or product. But this research shouldn’t be limited to common market research as it is commonly known (with surveys) but actually talking to the customers that are vocal about the services being provided. That would shed light into what needs to be improved and in some cases how it could be improved.
The other day I was waiting for my Dad to finish up his class at this institution where he teaches Greek philosophy. The building where is located, has two functions, during most of the day it works as a Primary School and High school; and during the night as a sort of university for soon to be priests. What got my attention while i was walking from one side to the other of the main aisle was this big red bright emergency extinguisher box. There was nothing uncommon about it; big, red and with a fire sign on the side. What really caught my attention was not the fact that it was bright red, it was the fact that it said “Fire” and not “Fuego” in the sides of the box.
One could assume that it does not matter in what language the instrument is as long as it conveys the proper meaning, and probably for the kids and teenagers that attend the building during the day, the extinguisher box side name it conveys the right meaning. But what about other people who would not be familiar with the proper meaning.
That leads me to my next photo. The instructions are also in English (“Pull here in case of fire”
Does the hand symbol convey enough meaning to be understood by people who are not familiar with English language?. After all this is still a Spanish speaking country.
Should we invest in adapting those instructions to the local language or just use universal symbols to convey the intended possible use of the instrument. ?
My answer would be that in some cases like this, we as a society should not assume that people could in some cases read the instruction of such an instrument. Most interfaces should be translated to the local language, no matter how much effort it takes. A standard for those translations could be produced and given to local distributors of such products.
