I read in !emc-pstc that Rich Nute <[email protected]> wrote (in <[email protected]>) about '[Fwd: User Warning Signal Words]', on Wed, 14 Nov 2001:
>Most warnings are ignored because we use warnings >indiscriminately. Like the story of the boy who cried >"Wolf!" we have diminished the effectiveness of warnings >by repeated and excessive use of marginally important >warnings. Agreed, and products carry badly-printed words in 3-point type, too. > >A warning is a crutch against a design that is not >safe. A safely designed product does not require any >warnings. No, that's too strong. A warning can also (try to) prevent foreseeable misuse. 'Replace fuse only with the same type.' is a notable example. >A warning message should be quite rare, and >then very carefully applied so as to maximize its >effectiveness. Focus on a signal word keeps us from >addressing the really important parts of a warning >message (and makes our job much easier because we don't >have to deal with clear text, graphic presentation, >and color). Agreed, although specifying minimum dimensions (which ought to be of considerable importance) is problematic in these days of ever-shrinking products. -- Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only. http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Eat mink and be dreary! ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: [email protected] Dave Heald [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old messages are imported into the new server.
