Assessing Grizzly Bear Safety Signage Designs: Applying a Personal Responses Tour through an Outdoor Gallery Installation

Abstract

Visitor-wildlife conflict is a persistent Leave No Trace management challenge for parks and protected areas in the American West. Throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecoregion (GYE), conflict with grizzly bears is occurring with increasing frequency—especially near roadways. The chance to experience close encounters with bears is highly sought after by visitors despite the serious risk to both humans and animals. This “bear blindness” results in patterns of inappropriate viewing behaviors, such as approaching bears from the roadway on foot, and remains a top managerial concern. Efforts to mitigate human-bear conflict through indirect strategies (e.g., education) are longstanding, but traditional messaging strategies inadequately influence visitor actions. This study evaluates the design elements and messaging strategies of roadside bear safety signage, centering on the capacity to capture attention, convey the authority behind the message, and persuade visitors to keep a safe distance from bears. Guided by the Personal Responses Tour (PRT) methodology, researchers evaluated viewer reflections using a gallery of prototype signs with varied approaches to assess their perceptions of design effectiveness for bear safety messaging in roadside settings. Through qualitative thematic analysis, key design principles were identified—including the importance of legibility in roadside settings, telegraphic messaging, and association with agency visual branding—that enhance the efficacy of safety communications. Findings from this study offer actionable insights for mitigating human-grizzly conflicts through improved safety messaging on the roadside.

Keywords

signage graphic design personal responses tour grizzly bears human-wildlife conflict Leave No Trace

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