Last year, I spent considerable time in MRI and CT scanning facilities, studying how the technicians interacted with scanners and their accessories. I recall seeing scanners “bandaged” with handwritten text labels describing the purpose of controls that had abstract labels. This pointed out the shortcoming of symbolic labels, despite the considerable effort of medical product designers to develop an effective visual vocabulary for the symbolic labeling of medical devices; particularly those developed for worldwide distribution (See: Medical Equipment Symbols and Safety Signs includes symbols from Graphical Symbols for electrical equipment in medical practice (ANSI/AAMI/IEC TIR 60878:2003) ).

Therefore, I was impressed with the symbols used on VIASYS Healthcare’s Avea Ventilator to simply differentiate between infant, child, and adult modes.

Anytime you see such intuitive labeling, the solution seems obvious. But, just as we experience each time we undertake an equipment labeling design effort, such intuitive design solutions may come easily to mind, but only after considerable design exploration and fine-tuning.