Vivid

Wayfinding Design Process

Our way of delivering architectural sign programs

Wayfinding Design – The Cast

It all begins here. The project cast.

The better we know them
the better the brief

Existing building or new construction, we need to know who wants what to give them best route there. Re-imagining the building from the users point of view is fundamentally different to the process of planning the construction. Our first step is understanding who the primary user groups are and what are their journeys.

Each will have their own paths and destinations. Many will overlap. Some will require different levels of design – front of house being different to back of house for instance. Some will use different navigation models. Some user groups will have extensive sub classes. Some may require special admission conditions.

The better we know your people the better we can address them.

Audience Groups

Typically a wayfinding audience group might look like this:

  • First time visitors

  • Regular visitors

  • Crew

  • Administration

  • Permanent staff

  • Temporary staff

  • Delivery and services

  • Maintenance

  • Emergency services

Each group has its own set of needs. So for each group we expand the brief.

Design Intent

What level of design is appropriate? Are these high profile front of house items or are they more commodity for lesser prominence?

Starting points

Often the pre-arrival information is the first contact the visitor will have with the Venue. This information will form the visitor’s initial impression of the venue and affect how they feel about their visit. This is particularly relevant for visitors with disabilities who need to plan their route before their visit. Typically starting points may come in the forms of:

  • Pre-arrival contact – ticket, website, broadcast, telephone

  • First contact – signage, search engine, outreach

Journeys

A list of the primary tasks people undertake becomes the basis for journey diagrams. These map the disclosure of information along typical paths. With these we test the information and the navigation models being proposed. We also list common short journeys within the site.

When we have a scheme we use these journeys to test the system.

Robert Luxford