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Photo of the day: Bottom loading instructions

May 7, 2009 by 7 Comments

While at Graceland, I came upon a truck with operating instructions posted on the side. These might be the most confusing instructions I’ve ever seen.

I’m well aware that I’m not the intended audience for this, but there’s so much jargon and such poor grammar that I can’t imagine anyone can understand what this is explaining to do.

Can someone who gets this stuff rewrite these in plain English? Then we’ll find the truck manufacturer and get the sign changed.

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Whitney Hess is a coach and writer helping product teams and senior leaders make better decisions through the principles of user experience. She believes empathy builds empires.

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  • jasonrobb

    1. Stop your truck. Put your parking brake on while in neutral gear. Turn your engine off.
    2. Connect static wires to the truck. The opening lever sets the brakes.
    3. Load the fuel.
    4. Open main valve. Close test valve. Fuel flow must stop, pressure must increase at the test valve.
    5. Close main valve. Disconnect the hose, static wires, and close the lever to release the brakes.

    CAUTION
    Check air pressure while loading.

    Eh, how's that? Probably not great, but that's one crazy sign. Good find!

    • http://www.whitneyhess.com/blog Whitney Hess

      Genius! That's pretty damn clear to me, but of course I totally don't
      understand the original sign so no idea if what you wrote is what they
      meant!

  • http://www.rachelhpeters.com Rachel

    Ugh, forget the bad grammar and jargon. I can't get past the yellow text on red background! My eyes are hurting just trying to focus on that. And what's up with using all caps?

  • http://davefriedel.com Dave Friedel

    My take:

    1. Stop truck and turn off engine.

    2. Connect wires and air hoses according to this diagram [insert diagram].

    3. Turn on the loading mechanism. This will lock the brakes.

    4. Open the main valve. Check to make sure the pressure in the air pressure isn't higher than XX psi or damage will occur.

    5. Close the main valve after use. This will unlock the brakes.

    CAUTION: Consult an experienced operator if you are unfamiliar with this procedure. Damage to the loading system can result from misuse.

    • http://davefriedel.com Dave Friedel

      My rationale to this potential usability disaster:

      1- Fluff that's too basic — There's no need to explain how to stop the truck or put it in park… assume the person driving the truck is licensed to do so.

      2- Fluff that's too complex — If the user needs to learn how each part works in great detail, no text or pictures can replace training.

    • http://www.whitneyhess.com/blog Whitney Hess

      I like it! But I'd put the caution message at the top :)

  • http://www.graphpaper.com Christopher Fahey

    This reminds me, of course, of the Zero-Gravity Toilet Instructions from <1>2001: A Space Odyssey.