Wayfinding

Signage and wayfinding for the built and outdoor environment.

Course topics:
What is wayfinding?
Human factors in wayfinding
Consequences of bad wayfindingsystems
Multi-level strategies for developing wayfinding
Readability, legibility and positioning for signs
Locational, directional and directory signs
User-centered methods for wayfinding
Universal design in wayfinding
Digital and multi-modal wayfinding
Wayfinding in strategic design
Maps for wayfinding

After completing the module, the student shall be able to analyse existing wayfinding and sign systems. The student shall further be qualified to suggest new wayfinding systems for the users of man-made environments, like for example a university campus, a hospital, a shopping mall or an airport. The student shall be qualified to account for psychological, cognitive, typographical, form and material-related issues in the design of wayfinding systems. The students shall be trained in the design and presentation of wayfinding systems, and shall be aware of universal design considerations in wayfinding. The student shall be informed about the use of – and relation between – traditional and new technology in wayfinding. The student shall be familiar with the importance of a systematic, holistic analysis in the process of designing wayfinding solutions and shall be trained in the use of user-centred methods like personas and scenarios, prototyping and user testing and involvment in the design process.

Lectures, exercises, and group project with weekly supervision (formative-iterative evaluation). Sketches, the work process, and the end result must be documented.