Finding a Path to Profit

The rather clunky term, ‘wayfinding’ has been coined to describe the physical and mental processes people go through to negotiate an internal or external environment. Essentially, way-finding is an exercise in problem-solving and for many this can result in aimless traipsing round endless corridors.

Those of a certain age may remember The Adventure Game, an early DOS-based puzzle where you had to rescue maidens and gather loot. I never found out what happened beyond the section where it came up with, ‘you are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike’. Whichever turn you took, this same message would come up. There was a way out, and it was only people with a certain mind frame that could work out the complex puzzle by being able to think several steps ahead without forgetting where they had been. It is very much this ability that also sets out some of the very best designers of modern wayfinding sign-age systems—seamlessly blending aesthetic appeal, functionality, and regulatory conformance.

People’s perception of the environment and how people interpret this is key to developing a good wayfinding solution. Also, understanding people’s ability to work out where they are and which way they are facing is pretty important as well as second-guessing the decisions people make, particularly if they are in a hurry.

Good Links

Signs and graphics production companies can be relied upon to provide creative solutions where needed and a recent project by Blackpool-based Links Signs and Graphics (LSG) proves the point. In the absence of a solution that suited LSG’s needs, and those of its client, the company fabricated its own.

The answer was not a standard sign-age system in itself, it just looks and functions like one. With some Metamark materials and some acrylic plates cut-to-size and expertly finished, the resulting signs function in concert with a larger project’s overall look and feel.  It also delivers all the utility expected of a component-based system expressly manufactured for the purpose.



Shaun Bennett, Links Signs and Graphics’ managing director, explains the ethos behind the company’s approach to creating wayfinding signage solutions: “We’ll always try to find a creative solution to distinguish our offering from that which might be more broadly available to our competitors. Our home-grown wayfinding system is one such solution. We made the units with one project in mind and the client was appreciative of the well-coordinated effect it delivered.”




Effective strategy

An effective wayfinding strategy should also be based on sound planning. Simply replacing old signs with new ones or leaving blank walls or other information gaps is not sufficient. Most people think that wayfinding is all about signs, but you need more than just signage to overcome the kind of wayfinding problems that can be caused by a complex, illogical site layout, or inconsistent, conflicting way-finding information.

However, as we have seen, signs are hugely important in any wayfinding system, but it is important to link with the other wayfinding information people will receive. Signs have to be designed to be understandable for a first-time visitor and, of course, people with visual impairments must be considered. Crucially, wayfinding signs should be effective for all site users.

For example, directional signs have to clearly indicate direction in some way, and safety signs have to comply with standards for safety colours and sign layout in order to be effective. Producing more effective wayfinding systems for your site requires a full evaluation of the good and bad elements of the current system. Once you have identified the wayfinding issues your site users have, with a focus on the particular areas of need, you are in a much better position to increase the effectiveness of your wayfinding system.

A very good example is the new Brunel building at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. This state-of-the-art high-rise now houses a myriad of departments on multiple floors, handling thousands of people walking in and out every day. The solution its architects came up with was a cascade way-finding system that gave each department a unique numerical identifier that runs in order down the length and floors of the building.

When you enter the building there are digital signage pods where you scan a bar code on your appointment letter. This registers your attendance and then gives you directions to your department and its unique number. This is then followed up by aesthetically pleasing and clear signage totems, wall directories, hanging signs, and large built-up numbers that guide you along the journey every step of the way. Even if you head down the wrong alley, this arsenal of wayfinding sets you back on the shortest route to your department number—even when you are in a panic stricken dash to an appointment.

Architectural directions

According to Mark Bartlett, managing director of architectural sign-maker, Signbox, this design and planning ethic is definitely the shape of things to come: “Architectural wayfinding sign-age has a key requirement to navigate and engage. Our architectural wayfinding signage solutions are designed to convey clear, concise information to guide visitors to their location or destination, safely and with ease.”



He adds: “Wayfinding signage has two key functions. Successful architectural signage will direct people who are unfamiliar with their surroundings, taking into account the needs of all, including the visually impaired, and help everyone feel more engaged with their environment. However, commercial signage solutions should also address the requirements of an organisation’s corporate identity, forming an intrinsic part of its brand and marketing philosophy and creating that vital first impression.”


Back to school

To demonstrate this approach, Bartlett tells the story of how Signbox carried out a major project to provide a user-friendly signage system for a new £120m purpose-built study centre for City University London and University of East Anglia London.



Providing a dynamic learning environment, the innovatively designed building, located close to Liverpool Street station in the heart of London’s financial district, features flexible, multi-purpose classrooms and state-of-the-art teaching facilities. The new centre accommodates more than 1,000 students studying a range of pathway courses leading to under-graduate and postgraduate level studies at UEA in Norwich and other UK universities.

INTO, which operates a number of centres at other UK universities, approached Signbox to manufacture and install a wayfinding sign system for the new building to help both English and foreign students easily navigate their way throughout the new complex. Signbox worked closely with INTO’s own design team to interpret their ideas and develop them into specifications that met the desired requirements in the allocated three week time frame.

To create a friendly welcome for both students and staff within the reception area, Signbox utilised its Displayedge product.  The new backlit and frameless, edge-to-edge glass display case, allows transparencies to be easily and safely changed without having to open or dismantle the display unit. This system also allowed INTO to reinforce its brand identity by prominently displaying the INTO UEA and City University logos.
 
So that students can quickly recognise the different areas of the building and locate which floor they are on, Signbox proposed a colour coded system, which integrated with the rest of the décor, for example, a coloured door sign to theme with the floor. This was achieved using elements of the INTO logo in large-format, providing a colourful background for wayfinding decision points. Floor plans and images were then digitally printed on the reverse of acrylic panels button-fixed within the coloured area.

In areas where information changes on a regular basis, Signbox used its Modular Sign System, which features extruded interchangeable aluminium profiles.



Bartlett says it was both a challenging and rewarding commission to get involved with: “To animate internal areas and introduce a fun element to the signs, we also utilised a range of large-format graphics, for example, a super-sized floor numeral for the lift lobby area, into the wayfinding scheme. With highly positive feedback from students, INTO conveyed to us their complete satisfaction with the outcome of the project.”

Important decisions

An important part of wayfinding is the psychology behind it and understanding the decision-making choices of visitors to your site. Throughout your site there will be what architects call ‘decision points’, the places people make a decision about where to go based on the available information. People following a particular route are likely to experience the same decision points—such as around corridor inter-sections or near lifts—but sadly not everyone will come to the same conclusions about where they want to go.

Locating these key decision points and planning what information is required at each of them is essential to forming the basis of your wayfinding strategy and system at your location. People often tend to only look at information such as signs and maps for a very short time, possibly less than a second. If they do not receive the information they require easily and quickly, they will soon go off to look for another source of information.

They will quickly make judgements on what information appears relevant to the task they need to complete. This process of quickly selecting information that appears to be relevant is necessary because of the excessive amount of visual information in most environments.



Modern wayfinding signs incorporate a range of technologies, including engraved acrylic and other materials, digital printing and also electronic signage. Messagemaker is one company that specialises in the manufacture and supply of a wide range of LED signs for airport information and wayfinding displays. This technology offers a long-lasting, low-energy, virtually maintenance-free solution for airport displays and can be custom built to order. A good example can be seen at Gatwick airport, with a huge LED board greeting passengers and providing them with need-to-know information on any issues affecting the airport.

O Factoid: The term ‘wayfinding’ comes from the art of navigating on the open ocean without sextant, compass, clock, radio reports, or satellite reports and was the only way to travel the open sea for thousands of years before the invention of European navigational instruments. O

While digital signage is still not widely used for wayfinding across the UK, it is certainly on the increase and is effectively being used in tandem with both printed and built-up way-finding solutions to enhance the visitor’s experience.

Taking into account all the key factors that make good wayfinding solutions, it helps to ensure the best possible solution for your project is used. Blending the science of human perception and understanding with the physical and budgetary practicalities of delivering accurate, relevant information is key.


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