Wayfinding Design

Good design is important because it delivers a powerful and important brand message, which can greatly influence the user’s perception of an organisation or its environment from a qualitative perspective.  For a university it can influence the user’s expectation of the facilities or calibre of teaching and for a hospital it can reflect cleanliness and the quality of care.

Ultimately, value and service are just as important to the users overall experience as getting to the right location on time. This is why good design is so important to our approach.

The difference is, we believe design should only be regarded as good if it creates the right brand message while achieving all its wayfinding objectives; and to do this it has to be used in exactly the right way.

As wayfinders, we know when design is applied incorrectly, signs can cause more navigation problems than they solve.  Design can affect visibility and understanding, as well as causing confusion. Poorly applied design elements can serve to hide important information and even increase anxiety.

Often a designer will build up their understanding of a site in isolation, becoming familiar with it in the same way as any other user. The mistake is in believing we all see things in the same way and and as such, the designer may go on to structure the solution to reflect their own understanding.