Wayfinding systems – what are they?
A system for understanding your surroundings
Know where you are.
Know your destination.
Know the best route.
Know when you have arrived.
Wayfinding is a combination of messages, built objects and pathways that allows people to navigate space.
It is the primary level of information connecting location with experience.
It should feel natural and intuitive. It should confirm and reassure first time visitors. It should support regular inhabitants by being a natural extension of place.
Wayfinding is a combination of graphic communication, environment, tactile and audible cues. A mutually reinforcing group of sensory aids that form a system of connections that enable people to make navigational decisions.
There are five cornerstones to wayfinding – pre-arrival, place, assistance tech, information centres and signs.
Wayfinding is Pre-Arrival
Referral
Telephone
Correspondence – appointment, invitation or ticket.
Internet research
Wayfinding is Place
Landmarks
Nodes
Districts
Destinations
Edges
Paths
Lighting
Wayfinding is Assistance Technologies
Passive
Portable
Infrastructure systems
Wayfinding is Information Centres
Primary information sites
Digital media infrastructure sites
Interactive media opportunities
Landmark structures
Wayfinding is Signs
Language and graphics deployed via:
Fixed signs
Digital messaging