Show me how steep it will be

Daniele Catalanotto
Mar 17, 2022
A Service Design principle for better accessibility.

We are walking in Lausanne, Switzerland, with my wife and child. The view of the lake is pretty lovely, but as often my eyes got interested in tiny detail.

On a signage panel from the university, I notice a tiny icon that I have never seen before.
The signage panel near the university library in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The sign shows how steep that particular path is. It warns people we reduced mobility that they might want to take another road.

That helps people save time. They won't take a path that, in the end, is too hard for them and forces them to come back.


Little side notes

  • This is the second draft of this Service Design Principle.
  • I was able to reduce the lengths of this principle by 37.5% compared to the first version.
  • Once adapted, even more, this principle will be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
  • As always comments and feedback to improve this principle are welcome
  • If you have a personal story that goes in that direction it would also help if you share it 
Like 1
Patrick Marcelissen
May 9, 2022
It warns people we reduced mobility that they might want to take another road.

We -> with

But it would be brilliant if they also show the alternative route is. Maybe that’s another principle 
Daniele Catalanotto
Jun 4, 2022
Thanks for spotting my typos :) That really helps :) Will update that in the next iteration :) 
Deleted
Oct 27, 2022
I’ve never seen that on signage. Cool! You know, I have no idea if a 10% incline is steep or not. I assume it is or they wouldn’t have called it out…but it seems tiny in the icon. 🤔
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 29, 2022
Indeed that could be shown a little bigger ;) 
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 29, 2022

The third draft of this Service Design Principle

We are walking near the lake in Lausanne, Switzerland, with my family. The view is pretty lovely, but a detail catches my eye. I notice an icon I have never seen before on a signage panel from the university. It shows how steep the road is.

It's smart. It warns people with reduced mobility to take another path. And it avoids that people have to turn back on a too-steep road.

So let me ask you.

How can you inform people in advance of the problematic parts of your service?

Daniele’s notes

  • This is the third draft of this principle.
  • I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 5 % compared to the previous draft.
  • I’ve added a conclusion question to help the reader turn this principle into action.