Wayfinding design
Designs what helps people orient themselves and find their way in a place: signs, maps, architecture, sounds, and textures.
What problem it addresses
Getting lost in a hospital, a station, or a campus causes stress and delays, and more signs do not always fix it.
Principles
Knowing where I am
Recognizable landmarks.
Deciding which way
Information right where a choice has to be made.
Not just signs
Architecture, light, sound, and touch also help people orient themselves.
Applications in design
Use it like this
Place information at the points where people have to decide.
Avoid
Filling the place with signs that compete with each other.
Don’t fall for it
Think of people who do not see well or do not read the language: add pictograms, sound, or relief.
Connections
Builds on
Authors and works
- 1960
Kevin Lynch
Used the term when studying how people form a mental image of the city with paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.
- 1984
Romedi Passini
Extended wayfinding to signage, graphic communication, and audible and tactile aids.
- 1992
Paul Arthur and Romedi Passini
Explained why people get lost and how to design orientation with architecture, graphics, and communication.
Sources
Original sources
- Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. MIT Press.
- Passini, R. (1984). Wayfinding in architecture. Van Nostrand Reinhold.
- Arthur, P., & Passini, R. (1992). Wayfinding: People, signs, and architecture. McGraw-Hill.
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