Sign Posting & Wayfinding

Information design, to some, may sound like a new term that describes a method of organization in digital media. The truth is that information design is really just an umbrella terms – covering the planning of everything. User instructions, warning labels, manuals, timetables, official forms, invoices, traffic instructions, signs, wayfinding tools, maps, technical information sheets, scientific papers, computer layouts and virtual environments all communicate information. (Jacobson, pg. 83-84)

Wayfinding, a form of Information Design, refers to the cognitive and behavioral abilities associated with purposefully reaching a desired physical destination (Jacobson, pg. 88). According to Romedi Passini, the author of the fifth chapter of Jacobson’s book Information Design, wayfinding was introduced in the mid-1970’s to replace the notion of spatial orientation, which referred more specifically to an individual’s ability to mentally represent a place. (Jacobson, pg. 88) Wayfinding conceptualized in terms of problem solving comprises three major processes:

1. Decision making and the development of a plan of action to reach a destination
2. Decision execution, transforming the plan into behavior at the appropriate place(s) along a route
3. Perception and cognition (information procession), providing the necessary information to make and execute decisions (Jacobson, pg. 88)

Wayfinding is different than information design that’s purely digital because is exists, for the most part, in the physical world. For example, signage in an urban area that helps pedestrians find their way to a specific place would be characterized as a form of wayfinding.

According to the conceptual definition of wayfinding, people need information to make and execute decisions. (Jacobson, pg 89) If this is true, how can a designer understand and know what decisions users are going to make in the future?

According to Passini, there are two empirical observations that help in answering this question: first, for similar tasks, decisions vary a great deal from one type of setting to another. Second, within the same setting, the decision of different users tend to be similar for a given task (Jacobson, pg. 89) These observations suggest that the setting and its architectural characteristics are more important than individual characteristics.

Sign posting, as an example of information design, works best when the signs are part of a larger system. They should all work together to inform the user of their place and direction. A grouping of signs allows the user to work within a system, an information system. More over, because a system is being defined (assuming there’s a need for multiple signs) the designer (or information designer) is able to create a learning experience. In creating a learning experience, designers are confronted with the perfect opportunity to actually employ design as interpretation. Signs, labels, written directives, and environmental graphics serve a wide array of purposes when employed in public places. (Trulove, pg. 10)