A User-Centred Approach to Visual Communication: the Design of Safety Traning Material for Migrant Farmworkers

Visual communication allows to overcome language barriers in training. This issue is particularly relevant in agriculture where a high number of migrants with different languages, cultures and education are employed. This study aimed to design a new safety training material targeting migrant farmworkers in Italy by combining the principles of visual design with a User-Centred Design (UCD) approach. Focus groups with migrant farmworkers and with trainers were carried out to identify the users' needs and preferences about safety training material. Subsequently, the drafted material was discussed to identify the best solutions in terms of comprehensibility and visual pleasantness. Finally, were assessed through a questionnaire the knowledge of safety topics prior to the training (T0) and after it (T1), and effort in learning and satisfaction for the material (T1), both in a control and in an intervention group. The results showed that the intervention group reported higher safety knowledge at T1 compared to the control group. The study pointed out the effectiveness of the UCD approach when designing training materials for migrant farmworkers.