Font size and colour should aid readability by being customer friendly (Article)

Derek Stockley is a training, learning and performance consultant based in Melbourne, Australia. He conducts in-house and public training courses.

This free High Performance Newsletter article explores the importance of choosing the right font size and colour for printed material and computer screens.

Size does matter! Customers should be able to read your message.

Some marketing people go too far. In the quest to be make things look nice, they forget the purpose of the item.

The Commonwealth Bank in Australia has recently redesigned the screens on their ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines). The bank is currently upgrading ATMs at various locations. The design has changed from a large white print on a blue background to a smaller print on a graphic background. The ATM screen is designed to match the bank's corporate colours. It looks nicer. Unfortunately, Commonwealth Bank's customers can find it very difficult to read, particularly if the sun is reflecting off the screen. The size, colour and location of the text make it harder to see.

Marketers and designers should test their designs with a range of typical customers. In Australia, as the population continues to age, many customers are over 40 years of age. Many are over 60.

Many require reading glasses for small print. There is a reason why Australian government departments use larger font sizes on their letters and brochures to service users. It is so people can read them!

In the Commonwealth Bank ATM example, white print on a blue background was outdated. A redesign was justified. In the redesign, the marketing image could have been incorporated into the background. However, for the ATM screen to be useable, appearance should have been a second priority, or at least given equal emphasis.

Usability should be the highest priority. The instructions to customers should have been large black print on a white background. This is what most experts state is the combination of colours that is easiest to read.

Graphic material can look nice, but it must always be functional first. It is possible to successfully combine both.

Too many marketing presentations are lost in the hype. It is similar to how presenters can use the Microsoft PowerPoint software.

PowerPoint can be a very effective aid to presentations, but too many people forget it is just an aid. The animation features can create dazzling and visually attracting special effects, but these can overwhelm the basic message. Audience members can be distracted by the special effects. Consequently, they focus on the special effects, not the presentation message.

Summary

Focus on the message, not the graphics. Make sure the font size, colour and location make it easy for people to read your message. Use graphic design to support your message.

Related reading

Articles about specific topics are listed at:

• Customer Service Articles.
  
• Business Systems Articles.
  
• Communication Articles.
  
• Management Articles.
  
• Marketing Articles.
  

Your comment

If you have a comment you would like to make, or you would like to share your experience, please send the comment to one of the email addresses listed below.

You can subscribe to this free newsletter. Only your name and email address is required, see: High Performance Newsletter Administration page. Your privacy is protected, see privacy page. Each article is short, easy to read and to the point. The newsletter is designed to provide useful management information and tips, not to promote products or services. You will not be bombarded with promotions.

To review the newsletter, see: Listing of recent newsletter articles. All articles relate to a performance theme, but individual newsletters cover a specific topic. Themes include customer service, leadership, management, website marketing and time management.

All articles are original. You can publish this article, provided that you meet certain simple requirements, see: High Performance Newsletter Publication page.

The major portals on this site are: Training Courses and Consulting, Learning, Performance Management and Website Optimisation.

Derek Stockley conducts public training courses in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, including a Public Train the Trainer Program.

For comments about PowerPoint training, see PowerPoint Training.

This article was last modified on 1 March 2007.