By identifying user patterns and destinations, wayfinders understand how a facility operates and how occupants and visitors should be moved through spaces and directed to their destinations. Understanding the difference between how a facility should operate and how it actually does is key to developing the appropriate wayfinding system. High-impact messages delivered by the architecture, landscape architecture and lighting of a facility are already familiar to users. The goal is to discover opportunities to reinforce architectural and interior architectural cues that support wayfinding. Through the creative use of color, materials and the location of sign types, a wayfinding program integrates graphics with the building architecture and interior finishes creating landmarks for a navigable environment.
Effective programs achieve the greatest impact with the fewest number of signs.
Careful attention to the development of a hierarchy of sign types that communicate through their message character, location and overall appearance creates a system that saves on the cost of hardware and maintenance and best serves the user and owner. First-time users of a facility have only a few moments to determine what to look for. To speed them to their destinations, the system needs to telegraph critical information quickly, clearly and memorably. Facility users are quick to pick up other cues from the environment that prove to be powerful aides when skillfully incorporated into the wayfinding system. Color can be compelling or it can be confusing background noise and visual clutter.