Harvey Balls

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Harvey Balls are round pictograms used in comparison tables to indicate the degree to which a particular item meets a particular criterion. They are particularly useful to visually convey qualitative information.

Image:Harvey Balls Small.jpg

For example, in a comparison of two products, information such as price or weight can be conveyed numerically, and information such as the existence or lack of a feature can be conveyed with a check mark; however, information such as "quality" or "safety" or "taste" is often difficult to summarise in a manner allowing easy comparison---thus, Harvey Balls are used.

Harvey Poppel is generally credited with inventing Harvey Balls in the 1970s while working at Booz Allen Hamilton as a consultant.

Mr. Poppel's specialty was office worker productivity. He did a lot of productivity work using clocks that pinged every 6 minutes so office personnel could note what they were doing throughout the day.

On a side note, it is claimed that Harvey Poppel invented voicemail; although the exact date is unclear.

Consumer Reports is well known for using a modified type of Harvey Ball in product ratings.

Harvey Balls have nothing to do with Harvey Ball, the inventor of the smiley face.

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