Purpose
The
purpose of the document is to single out individuals to
Customs Officials who might have contracted Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The document also provides the
air travelling public with information about SARS and informs
them about the possibility of having been infected with SARS.
Once
the user has read the document they are to answer three
questions and then present the form to a Customs Agent who
will return the form to the user who then must keep the
document for 10 days.
Audience
The
audience this document is intended for are people who are
going to travel, or have been travelling, by airplane outside
of
Canada
.
The document is intended for individuals and families and
Canadian citizens – the document is bilingual, English on
one side and French on the other.
Once
completed, the audience of the document becomes the Customs
Official who decides to allow the individual through or be set
aside for further screening.
Context
The
document is meant to be filled out while the user is waiting
in line to go through customs after they arrive in
Canada
or while in line waiting to either check in for their flight
or, if they missed the display at the check in area, waiting
to be screened by a Custom's Agent. Two separate copies of
the form must be filled out – one before departure from
Canada
and one after arrival in
Canada
.
Text
The
body text of the document is a Serif typeface which helps the
user in the linear processing of the paragraphs, especially
because the type size and is small. The x-height itself
appears to be typical of a novel. The typeface also denotes a
personal touch and a feeling of safety and comfort to the
user. In the event the user does present the symptoms listed
in the document there will be someone to help.
The
subheadings are a Sans-Serif typeface which gives the user a
sense of authority – this is the important information: you
must read this – and the bolded treatment of the subheading
text aids in the navigation of the document by breaking the
document into manageable sections.
However,
the instructions on how to complete the survey state to “circle"
(circle underlined) the correct response. A more useful approach would have been
to circle the world circle in the instructions in order to
provide the user with an example of what they are supposed to
do. The document is used in a busy and crowded area, when the
user’s attention is divided between the form and other
aspects of travel like making sure they make their flight,
filling out a custom's card…
Spacing
The
document uses spacing well in the form portion of the document
– although there is no grid pattern evident. The
space provided between questions uses both a numbered list and
the Gestalt Principal of Proximity, the
space around each question indicates a clear division between
questions, to allow for easy understanding and use of the
document.
However,
outdenting the subheadings in the body of the document would
have greatly helped navigation, especially because after the
users read the document the first time, they are to hold onto it
(for 10 days) for future reference. The user has the document
to scan just in case they think they may have SARS and
asks, “What are the symptoms again?”
Colour
The
colour used in the document is excellent. The yellow ground
gives the user a sense of caution, following Western
Conventions. The yellow also provides a good ground for the
black figure.
The
use of red for the heading is effective because it denotes
both a sense of stop and danger to the reader. By the colour
of the heading alone the user is told, “Stop! You must read
this because there is danger!”
Layout
The
document is laid-out well following the Gutenberg
Theory. The
graphics in the upper left and lower right corners help the
user to read through the information in the conventional
method. By focusing the user’s attention in a diagonal line
from top left to bottom right.
The
graphics are not pure sugar as they indicate that this is an
official document issued by Health
Canada
.
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