This research examines the effectiveness of four elevator service signs. The signs’ purpose is to
reduce delays for longer distance riders by dissuading people from using the elevator when they
are only going up one floor or down two floors. Three of the four signs were described in
Chapanis’ (1965, Human Factors 7, 1-17) seminal treatise entitled ‘Words, words, words...‘: an
original sign and two others that he suggested as possibly being better. The fourth was an
enhanced sign incorporating human factor principles that were derived from research since
Chapanis’ article. The enhancements involved the use of colour, a signal word panel, icons/
pictorial, and direct, explicit wording of the required behaviour. In Experiment 1, participants
rated the understandability of each sign and their willingness to obey its instructions. The pattern
of the means was the same for both questions. The original sign was rated lowest and the
enhanced sign was rated highest, with the two other signs receiving intermediate ratings. In
Experiment 2, the signs were placed on each floor of six multi-story buildings adjacent to the
elevator call buttons. People’s use of the elevators during the posting of each sign and during nosign
(control) periods was measured. The experimenter rode the elevators and counted the total
number of passengers using the elevators as well as the number who rode up only one floor or
down one or two floors (noncompliers). The new enhanced sign increased compliance compared to
the other three signs and the no-sign period. These results suggest that design principles derived
from recent research can help to promote comprehension, motivation and compliance behaviour
to signs. 0 19!V Elsevier Science Ltd