The Menu Magician

摘要

It is dinnertime at a candlelit Mediterranean eatery, and Gregg Rapp is busily devouring ... the menu. He nibbles first at the design, evaluating its overall clarity. He then savors the food descriptions-ravioli with shaved truffles, breaded tenderloin piccata-locating words that give a sense of a dish's flavors and textures. Next he looks to see whether prices are integrated into the text or standing alone by the right-hand margin. Rapp gives our menu a passing grade: the descriptions are laden with helpful adjectives, and the prices are unobtrusive. But a pattern on the paper makes a couple of the entrees difficult to read and could visually discourage a customer from ordering these high-priced items. "Not bad," he concludes, "but it could always use some engineering." Naturally, he's the man for the job.