Simplification of pharmaceutical pictograms to improve visual acuity

Abstract The purpose of pharmaceutical pictograms is to help patients manage their medicinal treatment. However, the pictograms often lack perceptual clarity. While they are frequently tested for aspects such as comprehension, little attention has been paid to their legibility. This paper presents the conception and results of an experiment adapted from the ISO ‘Method for testing perceptual quality’ (ISO 9186-2:2008) to measure the visibility of pictogram elements in two sets: 15 American USP pictograms and 15 redesigned versions reduced in complexity. The statistical analysis did not show reliable significant differences, which indicates that there are more factors at stake.