The time shown twice

An original explanation of an invented display-design exercise.

For our design exercise, we made a departure board for imaginary journeys. One column showed the time a traveller should arrive, and another showed when the vehicle would leave. We initially labelled both columns Time. Several testers treated the later figure as the time to arrive and would have missed the briefing.

We replaced the headings with Arrive by and Departs at. We also placed a short explanation above the board saying that all journeys began with a fifteen-minute briefing. We did not change any times. In the second test, readers could see both the distinction between the columns and the reason for it. The board carried slightly more text, but it demanded less guesswork.

In your own words, explain two ways the revised board reduced confusion.