Wayfinding on Campus

As I was walking to my classes in the Art and Design building and Wescoe I noticed how poorly some of the pathways had been shoveled and that some of the most direct ones had not been shoveled at all. Especially outside Wescoe the most direct routes were not available. In this picture you can see that only part of the landing had been shoveled. These shoveled areas created obvious pathways and even though the snow was not deep, there were no foot prints on it. People preferred to follow the outlined, shoveled, pathway as opposed to the most direct route through the snow. I noticed myself doing this without even thinking about it. This is an example of how wayfinding can be found everywhere and is not always noticed, even by people who are aware of its existence in the design world.

Wayfinding Notes

·      Successful wayfinding design allows people to

o   Determine their location within a setting

o   Determine

·      The design of wayfinding systems should include:

o   Identifying marking spaces

o   Grouping spaces

o   Linking and organizing spaces through both architectural and graphic means

·      Designers/Locations

o   Nicolas Vrignaud  - Docks en Seine: Paris

o   Belém to Cais Sodré Bikeway

§  P-06 Atelier

o   Pentagram: Paula Scher – Public Theater

o   **Public Theater – Pentagram: Paula Scher

o   NYC wayfinding – Pentagram: Michael Bierut ** touch screen interactive map

o   Birmingham Railroad Underpass – Bill FitzGibbons (different ways of showing a path)

o   CCTV headquarters in China

o   The EKKA and Beyond – dotdash

o   Seattle Public Library – Bruce Mau Design

o   Toronga Zoo –dotdash

o   Brookfield Multiplex car Par – Brand Culture

o   Arizona Cardinals Stadium – Pentagram **

o   The High Line - Pentagram

·      Paths and Circulations

o   The circulation system is the key-organizing element of a site…

o   Develop a focal point and a system of circulation paths to help people understand where they are in the system

o   Distinguish paths with width/height, material, and color differences to assist in comprehension of circulation system. If color is used to determine circulation, avoiding the same set of colors for other purposes such as decoration

o   Use a system that has a repetition or rhythm to help

o   Communicate the circulation system to the users when they enter. In particular, vertical circulation devices such as stairs and elevators should be intuitive and perceptible

·      Marker

o   In wayfinding – marks a locality. Can be arches, monuments, building entrances, kiosks, banners, artwork and natural features give strong identities to various parts of site or building

o   If possible set up markers at focal points and at places that correspond to intersections

o   Consider locating the marker so that it is detectable from as many positions as possible. However, do not position the marker so that it physically interrupts the path of travel

·      Nodes

o   A node is a decision point

o   Connect the dots

o   Easy to understand system, maps, and graphic information to indicate information at important spots

·      Edges

o   Wayfinding edges determine where an area begins or ends

o   (consider texture when you are too close to edge at subway)

o   design specific boundary areas, such as pathways and subway platform edges, for both visual and tactile detection

·      Zones and Districts

o   Wayfinding zones and districts are regions (either outside or within buildings) with a distinguishing character that assists tin the general identification of a place

o   Identify each zone as unique and memorable in its context

o   If possible, reinforce the identifying characteristics of the zone with signage prior to arrival in zone

·      Clear organization and Designation

·      Information is understandable, legible, and well designed

·      Ease of orientation

·      Visible and recognizable

o   Be aware that its there but it doesn’t impose

·      Functional, accessible, and interesting to all audiences

·      Simple and concise

·      Provide a map or directory

·      Solid research and strategic foundation

·      Cocawayfinding.tumblr.com

·      Graphicambient.com

Way-finding Lecture Notes

·      Minimalist sculpture

o   Looking at not just the illusion of space but actual space and how we perceive the idea of space and interacts with it

o   Robert Rimen (?) 3D sculpture and manipulating space and exploring line – interrupting the way we view space

o   Carl Andre – interrupting space on the floor and creating a path due to this interruption (At Nelson)

§  Wood planks creating a path back to a blank wall

o   Donald Judd – interrupting space with horizontal tubing

o   Site specific, often permanent things that interrupt the way we interact with the space

o   Sculpture with the implication of direction – could serve as a landmark or orientation device or a place for an orientation map or a directional device

o   Robert Morse – directional devices by the incline of the plane

§  Installation within a gallery – the integrity, form, beauty, and simplicity – manipulating how someone moves through the space  - dividing the space into two rooms and also a seating device – triangle on the wall changing the space so it isn’t perpendicular

o   Perception and Experience

§  Limestone chunks on the floor – hollow

§  Sword and butterfly – reminds of swimming pool water and the sense of the blue of the sky

§  Public monument in a private space

§  Restaurant - overhang gives suggestion of another room and makes it more private

§  Andy Goldsworthy

Ted Talk Summary

   Tim Brown’s talk on design thinking focused on ways to make things more modern and easy to use. Things often become obsolete quickly in the modern world because modern design tends to focus on one specific thing, becoming incremental. Lately, design has gotten smaller, becoming a tool of consumerism by creating aesthetically pleasing objects that aren’t actually useful. To get away from this trend designers need to focus less on the object and more on design thinking.

   Design thinking used to be large. Things during the industrial revolution such as the suspension bridge in Bristol, the Themes tunnel, and the great western railway are examples of design thinking used on a large scale. When developing the great western railway the question might have been asked “How do I take a train form London to New York?” this question was answered through the innovative connection of a railway that led to a ship, which took passengers to New York. You could simply disembark from the train and board the ship. Integrated thinking which solves problems like these balances desirability with feasibility and visibility.

   The current “priesthood” of designers working on small things now stands for aesthetics, image, and fashion, having only a temporary effect on society. Design is, however, becoming big again. Design thinking is now being applied to problems like global warming, clean water, and health care. To solve these problems design must be human centered and start with human needs. Human needs are more than just good ergonomics; culture and context must also be understood.

   The conversion sound digital hearing aid tackled the problem of how to provide the poor of India with affordable hearing aids. They found a solution to this problem by rapid prototyping. Technicians were replaced with an app on a PDA and hearing aids are now four dollars a pair and the company is the biggest manufacturer of hearing aids. This was accomplished by building to think instead of thinking to build. This is another way of problem solving and design thinking. Learning by making and rapid prototyping can speed up the process of coming up with a solution.

   Instead of creating a consumer society design can have the biggest impact by creating a participative society. Shifting ideas from a passive relationship of consumer and producer to the active engagement of everyone can create a more meaningful, productive, and profitable experience. Design can have the greatest effect when put into the hands of everyone, not just producers. Creating participative design systems will soon be a major theme in the design and economic world.

   Times of change are when design has the largest impact because new alternatives and new ideas are needed, opening up the window for design thinking. New choices are created and existing situations become obsolete. Design thinking gives a new way of attacking these problems and allows us to create rather than make choices. By focusing on the needs of humans, prototyping quickly, and creating active participation of the community, we can tackle bigger questions and have a bigger impact.

           

Interaction Design Sketchbook

            Bill Verplank’s guide to Interaction Design consists of four parts: sketching, Interaction, Design, and Paradigms. Sketches help you explore and take note of preliminary observations and ideas as well as support creativity.  According to Robert McKim, Sketches help to explore a problem or idea in “an uncritical mode of thinking” which produces quantity and variety. McKim suggests that sketches may go through an express mode, followed by a test, and then followed by a cycle where the next “express” idea is chosen.

            The interaction part of interaction design focuses on how to design products for people’s physical and emotional needs. Interaction design consists of three questions: “How do you do? How do you feel? How do you know?” The first question explores different ways a task can be accomplished, like whether an action happens by pressing a button or turning a handle. The second question takes the senses into account and determines how the product makes us feel. The last question asks how do you know your solution fulfills the need of its target audience. This can be accomplished through path knowledge, knowing one step at a time, or map knowledge.

            Design interaction “involves balancing a variety of concerns using a variety of methods or representations.” Different methods and representations used in interaction design are the processes of motivations, meanings, modes mappings, and observation, invention, engineering and appearance. To create a successful interactive design a designer must analyze the interaction of the subject with the product and create a model that organizes this behavior.

            Paradigms are distinct concepts or patterns. Competing paradigms can come between a person and their environment creating an interaction design problem, these things can also be called “extensions.” Electronics are extensions of our sense through media. Human interaction with computers is a competition between three paradigms: brains, tools, and media. Computers are viewed as brains through the concept of “artificial intelligence,” as tools through direct manipulation, and as media through communication and entertainment. The paradigms life, vehicle, and fashion can also be applied to computers.

Ethnography Articles

            Ethnography is a research tool used to create better design. It helps designers connect with people and realize what they need from a given situation. Design can have a large and positive impact on society, but to do this designers have to understand their audience.

            Studying the way a culture or group of people, your target audience, thinks in a real world context serves to uncover patterns that can be understood and followed. To do this, designers must immerse themselves in the situation/culture and collect data in the form of photos, videos, audio recordings, and other contextual data detailing how they felt and saw others feel about the what is being studied. This can provide insight into what things are meaningful to your specific group of people and once this is considered the resulting designs can evoke a meaningful experience for them.

            Observation and interacting is the most important part of the Ethnography process. When observing, think about what people do and not just what they say they do. These can be two completely different things. When interacting with people and asking them about their feelings on your subject, ask open-ended questions to stimulate creative answers; have a conversation instead of an interrogation.

            The Ethnography articles helped me understand a new way of approaching a problem: from a human need centered thought process. It gave me tools like what to observe and how to observe our situation to fully understand the human need in regards to wayfinding. To put this into practice in my project my group defined the problem as people not being sure where The Underground was or how to get there from inside the other end of Wescoe. We then tried to find it ourselves as well asked a new student to try our primary solution to the problem.

            In retrospect I wish that we had observed the process of people who already knew how to get there and how people other than ourselves found the way there for the first time. I also wish that we had interviewed people about the way to The Underground and found out if the general public actually did find it problematic instead of just assuming we were right about it because of our newfound understanding of wayfinding.

            After reading these articles I have a better understanding of how people interact with designs. The way people feel can be directly affected by the design of their environment or the product they are using. It can cause confusion and anxiety or create an exciting experience for the participant.

Cocoawayfinding Response

            The Cocoawayfinding website by Kitty Hong outlined a list of guidelines for signage, orientation tools, directional information, destination information, and situation and object identification. It stressed using familiar and user-friendly icons, which our group employed by using widely acknowledged food icons such as a sushi roll, the pizza hut logo, a steaming coffee cup, and others.

            The website suggested that text and graphic devices be consistent throughout the situation. Our group used the same fork and knife sign consistently to guide pedestrians through our pathway. The path was not large enough to require the help of a map, but the website suggested tilting maps to make sure that they are legible to all heights and adding a consistent “you are here” symbol, which I found interesting because it is an easy concept, yet many places I have been do not utilize this technique.

            For directional information the website suggested using words for up or down as apposed to arrows to eliminate confusion as well as a consistency of arrow styles. Using the red tape to lead into the building eliminated a need for arrows leading down the stairs and we kept the arrows inside consistent. The website also suggested using outdoor signage and signage when the location is reached, which we employed through adding The Underground logo at the beginning of the pathway and keeping the logo at the end of the pathway.

            This website gave helpful tips and guidelines for beginners in wayfinding in an easy to use and apply format.

Bill Verplank – Interactive Design

Interactive design is the process of designing something that someone personally works with to accomplish a task. Thinking about the human need and emotional reaction related to the task is the best way to implement interactive design. Bill Verplank explains this process through three questions: “How do you do?” “How do you feel?” and “How do you know?” By answering these questions one can understand the human need and reaction to a given product or process.

Verplank also discusses Design Paradigms. A paradigm is an example that serves as a pattern for the way that people think about something. There are many different paradigms related to design such as intelligence, tool, media, life, vehicle, and fashion. Each paradigm offers a different way of solving a design problem or implementing a design idea. According to Verplank’s outline the process of interaction design has four steps. The first is “Motivation,” which can come from a problem that one sees or an idea. The second is “Meaning,” which can come from a metaphor connecting two things or a scenario in which one understands the context of who is using the product. The third is  “Modes,” which relates to how one can move from one mode to another and then defines the tasks it takes to do this. The last is “Mapping,” in which you design a display and controls for the process.

This four-step process can help define and understand the problem wayfinding presents. By using Verplank’s process a target paradigm can be defined and therefore the solution can be focused. His guidelines can also help assess the problem the particular pathway presents and create and appropriate solution.

AEIOU

·      Activity

o   Going from east side of Wesco to underground starting at level 3 and going through Wesco

·      Environment

o   Wesco

·      Individual

o   College student

·      Objects

o   Statues, bathrooms, elevators, stairs, trash cans, drinking fountains, soda machines, benches, classrooms, printer, mailboxes

·      Understanding

o   Solution – adding signs with arrows, another underground sign, icons telling you what is sold at the underground, and red lines