The instructions below came with an mp3 player my daughter received for Christmas.
Look at the words in relation to my hand. How close to your face do you think you’d need to hold this, to be able to read it?
I think this is 4-point type
The designers might be thinking that only people under 20 need to read instructions for these products. Or, maybe their priority was getting them to fit into the tiny package the player came in.
Either way, they’ve clearly forgotten that most of their customers are probably grandparents or parents of younger kids (who got the cheaper model ’cause they were worried the kids would break the higher-end one).
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March 9, 2012 at 12:34 am
Cheryl
I used to buy supplies for wearing contact lenses. The instruction sheets that came with these things were probably 4 pt also. Imagine trying to read it without your lenses in your eyes.
March 9, 2012 at 11:46 am
SimplyRead
Thanks for your comment, Cheryl! Yes, it always makes me think that some designers either don’t think about the readers’ needs – or that they’re directed not to by their cost-conscious colleagues.
This one is funny in that way, because it looks like they’ve tried to use shorter paragraphs and big margins relative to type. But it’s nullified by how small the type is! (And, if they’d made the type even 8 pt, those paragraphs might have looked longer on that size of paper).