Updated 10 Sep 2025.
Last week I travelled to a specific tech repair shop, but upon arriving I stopped at the entrance and turned away — because a big sign on the window read “LUKKET” (CLOSED). Naturally, I assumed the shop was closed.
Looking through the window, the lighting was quite dim, there were no customers inside, and no staff visible either. All signals reinforced the idea that the shop was shut, and I almost left in vain.
(Yup, that's me in the reflection, wearing my cycling kit 😅)
But the shop wasn’t closed. The permanent opening hours right above clearly stated “Mandag – Fredag 9–17” (Monday – Friday 9-17), and this was indeed during those hours. Only after seeing a parcel delivery guy enter the shop, did I realize that the paper sheet wasn’t about today... It was a notice that the shop would be closed on two days the following week.
The UX issue: Wording and hierarchy
The notice had two problems:
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Wording: Putting “LUKKET” (CLOSED) as the headline creates an immediate impression that the shop is closed right now.
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Hierarchy The crucial information — which dates are affected — was hidden in smaller text underneath.
As a result, the temporary message overpowered the permanent information, and I nearly walked away from a shop that was actually open.
How it could be improved
A simple rephrasing and different information hierarchy would avoid the confusion:
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Headline: focus on dates, not on the word “closed”.
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Subtext: clarify that this only applies on those dates.
Visual hierarchy: keep the everyday state (“open as usual”) more prominent than the exception.
A few quick mockups with changed wording and hierarchy
Utilizing ChatGPT here's a quick mockup of an improved design of the notice:
... I wasn't completely satisfied, though, so I asked the AI to adjust it to this simpler version:
Ideas for user testing of proposed redesigns
These are best-bet designs and thus hypothetical improvements. To test them with users, we could utilize 5 five second tests and A/B compare the original with the proposed redesign. We could be asking a follow-up question such as: "Suppose today it's Wednesday 3 September 11.30 AM. Is the shop open now?". We could even try to recreate the shop door environment with AI image generation to make the test more realistic.
A broader perspective: Use several communication channels
Taking a step back from the notice itself, if I had arrived at the closing days, only to find the notice, and the shop closed, the redesigned wording and hierarchy of the notice wouldn't have helped much. I would have already travelled in vain.
So, thinking more broadly about the user journey and needs, in addition to the notice on the door, a notice on the shop website would be beneficial (however, also easy to overlook). And, even better, since I had created an online service ticket in advance, the shop knew that I was visiting in the near future, so a personal e-mail about the closing days would have been great and helpful service. Also, on the notice and on the website and in an e-mail, they could have put some guidance of what to do instead, if needing service in the closing days.
Conclusion
This post is not about pointing fingers at that particular shop. But as this small example illustrates, the design (not least wording and hierarchy) of even simple messages matter a lot, otherwise your customers may turn away from your business — using the competition instead.
As UX designer I can help your business get the message effectively across to your customers and users — not "just" on paper notices, but also in digital services, in apps, websites, intranets, chatbots and beyond...