TC Design
Units of measure
- Tim Renczes (Unlicensed)
Problem
Enable users to view units of measure that are familiar to them that reduces the amount of thinking and effort, and minimizes the chance for errors and frustration.
Solution
Display units of measure in familiar formats. This doesn’t always mean using metric just because we’re in Canada. Canadians use a mix of imperial and metric measurements and follow different conventions depending on the unit of measure being referenced. Context matters.
It’s best to offer all measurements in two formats when displaying information so users don’t have to do the conversion themselves if they encounter a unit of measure they don’t use themselves.
Tips and tricks:
Use the abbreviated form for the unit of measure to save on space (since the units will be displayed in 2 formats) . There are exceptions if the abbreviated form isn’t well-known to your intended audience (see examples below)
The unit of measure itself should follow the value with a space.
Line breaks should be avoided between the value and unit of measure for readability.
Try to keep measurements to no more than 2 decimal places
What are you measuring… | Display as | Notes (from an aviation perspective) |
|---|---|---|
Short distances - horizontally or vertically | 100 ft (30 m) | Current conventions favour using imperial for short distances, whether horizontal or vertical. Examples include altitudes, safe distances for flying, and social distancing guidelines |
Long distances - on the ground | 5.6 km (3.48 mi) | Â |
Long distances - in the air | 5.6 km (3 nautical miles) | Follows the metric standards, but provides the distance in nautical miles to conform with the Canadian Aviation Regulations and aviation conventions. Given the general public isn’t familiar with nautical miles, the cross-reference is important. For similar reasons, “nautical miles” is used instead of the short-form of “NM”. Examples include distances from airports/heliports. |
Weight | 1 kg (2.2 lb) | Â |
The above list isn’t comprehensive and only includes units of measure used in the Drone Management Portal. Temperature, volumes, areas, etc.. are areas to be expanded upon in other applications.
Use when
Displaying units of measure
TC Design