Visual perception of the depiction of human figures in pictorial signage of public toilets

Abstract

This study intended to examine visual perception (VP) of pictorial signage of public toilets including perceptual differences among the subjects in the study. The importance of the study is that in making meaning process of toilet signage people can misinterpret the signage, in particular, if the figures depicted on the signage are not in common basic forms such as the male figure illustrated by a man wearing a pair of trousers and the female figure shown by a woman wearing a dress. People’s confusion to interpret male and female toilet signs has also been noted in previous studies and explained that it might cause hesitation to determine male or female toilet cubicle. In the study in this paper, the pictorial signage examined were some examples of toilet signage depicted as stylised forms of men and women. The signage and a visual analogue scale (VAS), which were used to test the four parameters of the study, were presented to 36 undergraduate university students, who were the subjects of the study. The parameters of the study are the level of difficulty of identifying the toilet signage, the level of difficulty of differentiating toilet cubicles based on gender difference, the level of the probability of error to enter the toilet cubicle regarding gender difference, and the level of embarrassment if entering the inappropriate toilet cubicle. The study employed theories of VP and visual social semiotics (VSS) as the integration of them can help us to explain viewers’ perceptual processes of the signage, including their visual perceptual differences, and to reveal meanings of the signage. This study showed that the application of VAS is beneficial to collect the subjective judgement of the subjects about the signage with regard to the four parameters. In addition, the integrated approach comprising the theories of VP and VSS is useful to explain the subjects’ understanding of the public toilet signage and potential meanings of the signage.