Shifting Audience and the Visual Language of Avalanche Risk Communication
Jernej Burkeljca · 2013
ABSTRACT: As more people venture out into avalanche terrain we must also deal with a shift in avalanche bulletin audience. They are the core product of avalanche warning services yet many still operate with an outdated idea of their user group. How do we capture the attention of novices and people venturing into potentially dangerous terrain on the spur of the moment without even the basic understanding of what they are getting into? We explored current state of bulletins, highlighted the essential elements and presented various practices in their implementation. We chose 4 representative concepts from European and North American warning services and modified them to present the situation in Slovenia. The resulting bulle-tins were presented to expert and advanced users for evaluation then compared to findings gathered in a concurrent usability study with lay people. Bulletins with well implemented use of graphics performed best in presenting critical information however they must be accompanied by extended information in textual form preferred by experts and older users.