Easy-to-follow signage and legible directions are an integral provision of any business.
In some settings, wayfinding can make a difference in the customer experience. Because wayfinding and signage solutions inform and guide people in unfamiliar surroundings, a well-designed wayfinding system must be put in place.
Without the right wayfinding system, the built environment becomes more difficult to navigate, ultimately leading to increased frustration, anxiety, and late arrivals on the part of the user.
As Dubai’s leading wayfinding design firm, we understand the importance of comprehensive wayfinding systems. We build efficient wayfinding solutions that allow complex built environments to communicate important information using minimum signals.
Our wayfinding designs are appropriately sized, easy to read, well-located, and clear and relevant. Regardless of your architectural environment, we’re able to provide a great navigational experience by following the right design principles with our wayfinding solutions.
Below, we explore our wayfinding design process and how we apply these design principles to help your business respond to navigational pain points before they have the chance to emerge.
1. Display consistent language
Once an architectural review is performed and the architectural drawings and master plan have been assessed, our interior designer and other consultants will begin work on conceptually rendering wayfinding signage.
This conceptual render and the design of a wayfinding system will make use of clear and consistent visual communication. Design specifications will display concise messaging using consistent graphic elements, a typeface chart, and a color chart.
Incorporating connectivity across all displays of physical signage allows users to create a deeper connection to their surrounding built environment.
Consistent visual communication gives that location a unique perceptual identity, allowing visitors to easily identify key landmarks in the built environment and to generate a mental model of routes.
This improves their ability to orient themselves while enhancing their experience of the space.
2. Create well-structured paths
A predictable wayfinding network eliminates the need for frequent stopping to check directions which can frustrate the user. Pathways with clear and visible wayfinding elements allow visitors to quickly navigate their surroundings while maintaining a state of motion.
Having distinct visual navigational elements such as map kiosks and directional or conformational signs allows visitors to distinguish their location along the structured pathway. Providing tactile cues ensures that visitors take the most efficient route to their desired destination.
A well-structured pathway enhances familiarization, helping visitors naturally navigate the environment.
3. Show only relevant information to the space
When designing easily navigable spaces, careful attention must be paid to how information is presented. The visual communication system must be comprehensive yet succinct to allow navigators to quickly make informed decisions as they navigate their surrounding spaces.
Wayfinding should only display what is needed. Excessive information can clutter the visual environment, leading to increased confusion and frustration.
In certain settings that require timely directional information to make crucial appointments like hospitals or airports, excessive information will result in decision fatigue, leading to lost travelers or frustrated patients.
Wayfinding information must be presented in manageable amounts. Signs must be provided at decision points (points along the pathway where navigators must make a navigational choice) to ensure users can make the proper move.
These signs must communicate the right information, and nothing more, to reassure visitors that they are on the right path and so that no visitor feels uncertain about their direction.
4. Make wayfinding systems interactive
In today’s digital age, wayfinding solutions need to play a more active role. At DezignTechnic, we use interactive wayfinding systems such as electronic booths and mobile content delivery to provide visitors with customized, on-demand wayfinding information.
The use of a multi-modal wayfinding system enables built environments to address current and future wayfinding needs. By integrating interactive kiosks, a mobile app, and static signage systems, sites and facilities create a wayfinding solution that is appealing, convenient, and stimulating to a wide range of users.
Special considerations for issues like accessibility, native language proficiency, and spatial reasoning skills ensure users have a degree of autonomy to interact with wayfinding systems, making the experience more enjoyable.
5. Limit navigational choices
Wayfinding usability is heavily reliant on an efficient and clear navigation experience. When the user is required to consume too much information to make a directional decision, mental exhaustion, confusion, and annoyance can set in.
The inability to make decisions due to too much information or too many maps will result in users ignoring the wayfinding system. In designing a strategic wayfinding interface, establish a hierarchy of information.
Every path must be effectively communicated so users can maximize how they navigate their surrounding environment.
Take the opportunity to highlight key routes such as detours and side tours along the structured pathway. Each exploration path should lead back to the main path so that the navigator can easily return to their designated route.
Taking the Right Path
Evaluating how your wayfinding system interacts with its surrounding environment is essential to creating a wayfinding solution that users happily engage with. Implementing these important elements into their wayfinding system will allow businesses to create a clear wayfinding experience for their users.
As a full-service signage, mapping, and wayfinding design firm, we integrate these design principles in all of our wayfinding solutions. By focusing on the challenges faced by our clients, we can develop a framework for an efficient and workable wayfinding system that creates an effortless and fluid navigation experience.
Find your way with DezignTechnic. Contact us today to get started.
