Here are two influenza awareness stickers sighted at the SFU and UBC campus respectively. The most important message is “cough or sneeze into your sleeve“. Let see how they communicate the message:

Sighted at SFU men’s washroom. Simple and nicely executed.

Why it is usable:

1. Minimal text – passes the “no one reads instruction” test
2. Simple English – people scan, not read. And just please don’t assume that anybody would be interested enough to stand reading your long paragraph.
3. Simple and huge graphic – easy to understand
4. High colour contrast – easy to see from far, in low light situation; colour blind friendly
5. Clear followup location – simply say “http://www.sfu.ca/H1N1“. Nothing more, nothing less.

Now let’s look at this sticker sighted at UBC.

Why is this not very usable:

1. Layout – the catchiest object is the “Protect Yourself”. The rest are just fine prints. You don’t know what this poster means without squinting your eyes and read carefully.
2. Bad typeface – skinny font that is unreadable from far.
3. Lots of words – don’t know if the designer assumed that UBC contains a bunch of scholars who are interested in reading long fine prints
4. Detail graphic – high fidelity pictures don’t necessarily make it more viewable. Road crossing sign only use black and white.
5. Unfocused information – in my opinion, the most important message is to “cough or sneeze into your sleeve”. The rest are just freaking common sense that everybody knows.