Quiet Please

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Quiet, Quiet Zone, Silence, Silence Please, Keep Silence

Category

Regulations, Behaviour of the public

Message / Function

To indicate areas where silence is required

 

	Source	Description
	Achs	Circle with side view of head and shoulders, hand with finger near mouth area
	Eco-Mo Foundation	Side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	D'source	Side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	UIC 413	Side view of half-face in outline with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	Tern	Side view of half-face with hand in front and finger over mouth area
1)	UIC Testdesign	Side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	ÖNORM A 3011	Side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	ISO 7001	Side view of head with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	CNIS	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	HSSS	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
2)	UIC Testdesign	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
	Aicher & Krampen	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
3)	UIC Testdesign	Lips with hand in front and finger over mouth area
4)	UIC Testdesign	Front view of head with headphones and eighth notes, hand in front and finger over mouth area
	ÖBB 2007	Front view of head with headphones smiling, head with angry look, text 'Quiet Please' in German

Discussion

Early versions of pictograms for this message can be found in a book published by Otl Aicher and Martin Krampen in the year 1977, and the International Railway Standard 413, where it originally was used to indicate an area or a room inside a train where silence is required.

It was also UIC that initiated a study where pictogram variants were examined on basis of a Comprehension Test (Brugger, 1996). Four testdesigns, marked as 1) to 4) in the table above, were included in this research. The placement of these pictograms in the table also corresponds to the scores in this test, where variant 1) reached an excellent comprehension score of 94.6 and variant 2) a score of 84.6. A few respondents were not able to identify all elements of the latter. Pictogram variant 3) elicited even more wrong responses and components were interpreted among others as an emergency break or a ticket validation machine. Variant 4) was least comprehensable among this set with a comprehension score of 63.0. It elicited more responses related to music.

In a Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation in the table above reached a comprehension score of 90.8 on basis of a multiple choice test with just three distractors (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001), so data probably over­estimates real world comprehensibility. This variant was tested as mandatory sign in white on blue.

Recommendations

Based on test results available and regarding aspects like legibility/visibility we recommend the use of a pictogram like symbol TS0820 of the Tern symbol set to indicate areas where silence is required.

Tests of pictograms of referent Quiet Please

Brugger, Ch. (1996): Verständnistest UIC Kodex Merkblatt 413. Report to ÖBB GD 02 (Austrian Railways), Vienna, March 1996.

Eco-Mo Foundation (2001): Test data of public information symbols in Japan - Procedure for the testing of public information symbols by the Study Committee. ISO: ISO/TC 145/SC 1 N 329.

 

Updated 2023-09-10 by Ch.Brugger