Research-based guidelines for warning design and evaluation

Dur ing the pa st two decades. the body of empirica l researc h on warni ng design and evaluatio n has grown. Consequently, there a re now ba sic princip les and guideline s ad dressing warn ing design (e.g., signal wor ds, color, symb ols, and text/co nten t), placement (e.g., location within product instru ction s), and how to enhance th e usability of desi gns by co nsidering factors in terna l to the user (e.g., beliefs, per ceptio ns of risk, stress). Similar ly, eva lua tion methods have been deve loped that can be used to measure the effectiveness of wa rning s such as the degre e to which warnings are communicated to recipients and the degree to which they encourag e or influence behaviora l comp liance. An overview of the empiri ca l liter at ure on warning gu idelines and evaluation approa ches is pro vided. Researc her s, practition ers, and manufacturers can use these guidelines in various contex ts to reduce the likelihood that injur y and pr oduct damage from exposure lo a hazard will occur. <D 2002 Publ ished by Elsevier Science Ltd.