February 2022 – Wayfinding Spring 2022 Class Blogs

Wayfinding and Finding Our Way… to the Bathroom, to Berlin, or Just Ourselves

Coming into the course, I had no clue what wayfinding was or why it was relevant to our day-to-day lives—enough so as to dedicate one whole class to it. It was on February 8th, when Prof. Puccetti prompted us to visit some places on campus using the wayfinding resources on campus. In short, it was a total disaster: reversed maps, unclear signage, unaccessible lifts, confusing language… It was then pretty clear that, from thinking about accessibility to the role that signage can play when exploring unknown lands, wayfinding design is key in every aspect of our lives, as individuals who are constantly moving, and trying to find their way.

After the campus tour exercise, I haven’t been able to see things the same way—and that is a good thing. If I go to a place and I cannot find the public bathroom or it’s not clear how to use the tram, I already know: it’s bad wayfinding design. Moreover, one of the phrases I’ve always heard, “The user is always right,” has been proven true now that I am introduced to the concept of wayfinding. Finding my way to the bathroom, or even to Berlin, is the result of planning the wayfinding design of the place by being assertive and using the right nudges, also known as unconscious cues, that lead you where you need to go without giving it a long thought.

Nudges might sound like a simple, maybe even trivial term, but it is key. Let’s say you go to a concert in a city you don’t live in and it ends late—around 1 am. You need to go to the metro to get back home, but you have no idea how to get there and are skeptical of asking random strangers so late at night, but the metro closes soon. Now, how do you get there? Good wayfinding and nudges are key for you not to go through this very personal, and awful experience I had. Similar to nudges, affordance—the property of an object that defines its possible uses—is also key in avoiding getting in trouble and/or preventing the scathing of relevant objects/places that make up our identity and history. These aspects of wayfinding add value to it and the way we conduct our decision-making in life.

Although wayfinding factors like nudges and affordance are important, perhaps one of the most important factors of it, and design in general, is to think like a human, to plan inclusively. Whether you know someone who possesses challenges in terms of mobility and transportation, or you yourself do, or maybe you know no one, it is important to know that they exist, and they deserve to access these spaces as much as you. They—like you—probably want to go to the beach, travel, or go for a coffee around the corner of the street, and they must have ramps, plain grounds, or signage that can help them move around and enjoy—guess what—a normal life.

From making places inclusive to helping us find our way in unknown places, the benefits of wayfinding are clear, but what about the challenges or dangers of bad wayfinding? As Bernard Rudofsky once said, “Altogether, cities correspond closely to the ideas and ideals of their inhabitants. They are the tangible expression of a nation’s spirit, or lack of spirit.” With that in mind, we can assert that, because wayfinding constitutes the way we explore, navigate, and adapt to cities, and consequently cities represent a nation’s spirit, wayfinding can impact politics, economy, culture, and our existence in this world. Without it, we are theoretically and literally lost in every aspect of our lives.

The scope of the importance of wayfinding reaches our identity and who we are in this world as we explore it. As David Gibson, author of The Wayfinding Handbook, puts it,

“The heart of a civilization throbs wherever people come together to work, play, shop, study, perform, worship, or just interact. Crowded unto bustling spaces, they share the richness and diversity of human experience as well as its challenges. In these spaces people may “find their way” in the existential sense, but they might also become overwhelmed or disoriented if they physically lose their way. Wayfinding design provides guidance and the means to help people feel at ease in their surroundings.”

In short, what Gibson tries to convey in his book is the fact that we are defined by the places in which we interact with each other, and because wayfinding plays a huge role in us getting to and using these places, wayfinding is also relevant in the role we each play in this world. Therefore, with all of the above in mind and these words from Gibson, there can be no space for doubt that we should all know, at the minimum, the basics of wayfinding.

Evolution of My Perception On Wayfinding

What wayfinding meant for me?

Wayfinding, a term unknown to me only 4 weeks earlier, has been a topic for my attention and the victim of my critical thinking and analysis lately. I grew up in Pakistan until I was 9 years old, where the definition of Wayfinding revolved around asking strangers on the street for guidance to the addresses, as there were no proper signages, and those that did exist had been outdated. The landmarks pertained to the very old shops or stores, such as the way I gave the address of my house to a friend by saying “Have you seen Disco Mor*? Yes the one where Rickshaw stands are. Enter the street which has ‘Imran Paan* Shop’ on the corner of it and it’s the second bungalow”.

A picture of Disco Mor with a Rickshaw standing in front of Imran Paan shop.

I would have never realized that wayfinding is a topic of study as well as a profession. Living in the UAE in the past 10 years, I am still not sure over the routes I am allowed to take while driving. Did I ever think any of these were badly designed? No, not once. Similarly, not being able to find the A5 building, on the campus signage during Marhaba was only a consequence of my lack of sense of direction. Or so I thought. In fact, I would marvel at the architecture of our campus and how beautifully it has been designed – only before it became a victim to my critics in the past 4 weeks. Even in instances of architecture appreciated by the world, an example being Dubai Mall, I could never find my way in spite of having visited it multiple times and having asked the help desk personnel for directions. However, it is only now that I understand that the flaw wasn’t in me, it has in fact been in the design. What seems aesthetically pleasing can not be automatically regarded as being ‘well designed’.

What exactly is wayfinding?

The concept of design does take into consideration the visual aspects, since we are ultimately ‘visual mammals’, however the ability for it to be navigated easily and conveniently, taking into account the differently abled individuals, is what concatenates the idea of a good design.

Looking back at an example discussed in the class where an individual used a font of their choice, Comic Sans, for writing articles. I would not have regarded it as a problem until I was made to realize that what seems ‘cool’ or ‘pleasing’ to yourself may not be acceptable or really the standard. There are some principles that are essential and have to be followed for implementing any design. It is these principles that associate an identity to the wayfinding systems and from what I would consider a subconscious response to these systems with their consistency. Looking for Exit 11 on the highway? A small sign with blue background and text in the sans serif font will be the lookout!

Even though I have spent two years living at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus, it is only now that I realize the design inconsistency in the various aspects. In a walk around the campus, Professor Goffredo highlighted the inaccessible design, particularly referring to the braille signage around campus. In contrast to most places that lack the accessibility aspect, I had always thought our campus was very inclusive, only impressed by the braille imprints on some signages. However, when you actually think from the perspective of a person with visual impairment, you realize the significance of consistency in design – a particular example being the braille prints over the buttons outside the lift, and then being next to the button instead of being on top of them again.

Being made aware of these very small aspects that sum up a good design, I have since been observing the smallest of things in regards to design and signage. An instance, which I may not have noticed earlier, was when I saw a visually impaired person calling the ‘Public Lift 2’ on campus. I noticed that they were aware of the placement of the buttons and were aware of the design inconsistency, having spent some time on campus. However, what alarmed me was when the lift arrived, they could not easily identify with the ‘ting’ sound of the lift as to which of the two lifts had arrived. It made me realize that the problem lied far beyond only the inconsistency of design.

Is wayfinding really even needed?

Some people question whether in the busy hurried and digital lives that we live, do we still even need wayfinding? Who even has the time to read and understand complicated maps when you can just ask around where a specific building is located? But that is exactly the point! Good wayshowing would not consume so much time to understand the maps. Maps are in place to simplify the experience of wayfinding, not to complicate it and frustrate the user. If a map is too confusing to understand or takes too long to read, it’s not a good means of wayshowing in the first place.

Though in this modern digital world, GPS and WiFi systems have definitely simplified the experience of finding routes, wayfinding design is still crucial. A satellite map cannot tell me how to navigate to the American Eagle store on the 3rd Floor. Even if it can, it requires some prerequisite resources. If we solely start to rely on the GPS systems, how would we navigate in the absence of WiFi connection, or if the phone battery dies or if Google Maps has not even been updated with the latest routes?

An example of such an instance was when my phone battery died on the top of Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence and I had to navigate my way back home. With no idea what times the buses will be arriving and which combination of buses will take me to my destination, I hopped on a random bus which actually took me to the outskirts of Florence. This was the first time I was truly grateful that ‘Compassing’ was only one of 9 strategies for wayfinding. Like Hansel and Gretel, I resorted to the most basic and effective one: Track Following. After asking some shopkeepers on how to get back and continuously losing my way, I was advised to simply follow the tram lines which led me directly to my destination.

A picture of the tram lines in Florence.

Incidents like these are when we truly appreciate the importance of good wayfinding design. Different environments create different problems as well as provide different solutions. However, the 6 principles of good wayfinding design systems are constant and as follows:

1. 1. Perceptible by all necessary senses.
  2. Available at any user’s level of ability.
  3. Usable without enduring a safety hazard.
  4. Accessible without making significant effort.
  5. Obtainable in its simplest form.
  6. Variable in its use of media.

All in all, from not even considering wayfinding as having any relation with graphic design, I have come to a point where I actually regard wayfinding as a system of design. Anywhere I go, I view the design elements with an entirely new and considerate perspective, where something that is only aesthetically pleasing does not satisfy me, unless it is actually easily accessible and convenient for all visitors.

My First Thoughts on Wayfinding

“Wayfinding: Graphic Design in the Built Environment”, a course posted on Albert caught my attention because the course reflected a crossroad between two seemingly unrelated and independent dimensions – graphic design and Wayfinding. A friend of mine advocated for this course and I decided to enroll in it hoping to be amazed as I have been with most of my cores. Looking back at it, only in the span of 4 weeks, I consider it to be one of the most intriguing learning experiences during my 2 and a half years at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Before the class, I wondered the relevance of physical Wayfinding systems in the digital era that we live in. We have digital maps in our pockets through the powerful web and mobile applications by companies such as Apple and Google. These maps even support regularly updated satellite images, support aerial view, shortest paths, make use of Machine Learning and have any relevant information you would need.

The essential need for the maps like the one attached below could be replaced:

Now that the digitized version attached below is even more enhanced:

However, I have come to believe that it is in fact very necessary to have efficient physical Wayfinding systems in the built environment. These digital maps may navigate us across broader areas effectively, however they fail, owing to the limitations of the existing technology, to serve the needs at the micro level. If you are inside of a College Building, or a Mall, or even in a relatively smaller open area, regardless of the satellite view, it becomes difficult to navigate through. Adding on, being dependent on technology is not always reliable. What if your phone battery dies or you lose the internet connection? It is essential in any case to be familiar with the Wayfinding systems.

If Google Maps or other similar applications had been reliable enough, it would not have been a regular sight seeing Deliveroo and Talabat riders roaming around the highline at NYU Abu Dhabi, seeming to be very lost and finding it difficult to communicate in a foreign language to ask for directions.

However, technological advancements have been taking place rapidly. An example of this is the ‘Live View’ feature of the google maps which makes use of Augmented Reality. A very recent development in this regard has been made with the partnership between the Zurich Airport and Google for providing directions on the user’s smartphone screen, making use of the back camera, which will guide them through directions on their screen. While this is a very interesting step and allows us to dwell on what the future in Wayfinding could potentially look like, perfecting this technology may definitely take time and then mass adoption by people could take even further. It may be easier to navigate, but not when someone is rushing for their flight by looking at the directional signages on the huge sign boards – they wouldn’t make the effort to open their phone, wait for the application to load up and hope that the machine guides them accurately and instantly. The need for physical Wayfinding systems, no matter where technology leads us, will always be integral to us.

If you haven’t noticed, all the aforementioned perspectives have taken into regard gifted individuals only. A very specific user base, the ones that can potentially read this blog post and those who could write using a keyboard. A significant learning on the Wayfinding has been to take into account the differently abled individuals amongst us as well. While the technological advancements do help with this by making use of Audio directions, the traditional methods will always be very essential (referring to the reasons mentioned earlier). This is what emphasizes the importance of design in Wayfinding systems, making it clear, accessible and perceivable by everyone (not only a specific target audience).

Now that we have discussed the significance of Wayfinding, I will look at the Wayfinding systems of NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus – where I have been navigating daily. Looking back at the Candidate Weekend, and then the Marhaba Week on campus, it is only now that I realize it was never my fault to not know my ‘way’ across campus. While I thought the campus was literally a puzzle over Candidate Weekend, it was still slightly better in the Marhaba Week and even then I had to ask an upper class person for a tour around the mere 8 buildings on campus.

Dwelling back, thinking from the perspective of an outsider, we were given the task, as part of the course, of guiding our way through a few buildings on campus, starting from the basement. Keeping aside the appreciation of the campus’ architecture, the task acted as the realization of the inconsistent Wayfinding design on the campus, coupled with the essential urge as a student to fix it, and the potential difficulty to be suffered by any visitor – particularly those who would have had to navigate their way from the (basement) B2 and might have to go to the (building) B2, not knowing when they are at their destination. Inconsistency in language was the major takeaway, as there were instances of ‘University Club’ and ‘Torch Club’ on different signages when they pertained to the same location. Even the Dining Halls, D1 and D2, are referred to by various names such as the West Dining Hall and Campus East Restaurant, lacking consistency. The lack of an easy-to-navigate system is what has caused me to understand the ways around campus only by walking around and getting lost multiple times.

My family always considered me as ‘inattentive’ for not knowing the ways of my area by heart, relating this discussion to my younger self, I realize it was again not my fault solely. While I do agree I was not extremely attentive to memorizing the ways then, I was not the same way in my study away in New York in Fall 2021, as I can claim to guide myself to 23rd Street and 3rd Avenue, where I lived, from any corner of Manhattan.

This brings me to the topic of the amazing New York Subway system. Once again, the google maps did get us closer but finding the actual entrances of the subway system, which might have been a challenge, were resolved due to the consistency in the design, specifically pertaining to their font, Helvetica. You could spot from afar, the similar designs and representations from the entrance designs of the subway to the banners and signages, and if anyone were to get lost in the streets of New York – I would regard it to the lack of attentiveness.

Wayfinding and Design go hand in hand. Whether it be towards considering accessibility or a general consensus on Sans Serif font for Wayfinding Signages, the goal is to progress towards enhancing the experience of a user. A similar combined effort as is between the user interface and user experience of mobile and web applications can also be applied towards Wayfinding design.

My Thoughts on Wayfinding

My experience with design

I have been a graphic designer since 2013. Throughout all these years, I have come to create manipulation designs, branding projects, marketing campaigns, and localized Arabic logos. Previously, when I thought about concepts such as planning, way-finding, or any similar concepts, I previously believed they were mainly related to the job an architect or an urban planner, not me as a graphic designer. While this might be, to some extent true, I come to realize lately that my entire perception of graphic design was limited—more of a digital-oriented definition— if we can describe it that way. And whenever the word “design” came to my mind, the first thing that I would think of is Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and nothing else. However, when I think of the same word “design” in Arabic, I think of design in the real world, not the digital one. While this might seem an ordinary point, it was they eye-opener for me; since the class started, I began to notice how design is everywhere around us, not just some elements, images, or shapes that insert into a screen or a software like Adobe Photoshop.

Design and the user

I would like to quote Professor Goffredo’s words that the English word “design” adds a type of ambiguity to the word that makes it comprehensive of all meanings related, unlike Arabic. Design in my opinion is how you change the experiences of others and give them a new way to witness and be affected by them. It is how you guide the subconscious minds of people to do things they might not be aware of, but we, as designers, must be aware of in order to give users the best experience. I think that such a conception is important in the sense that it will change designers’ motto from “the client is always right” to “the user is always right,” because through it we put ourselves in the shoes of users and know what will be suitable and what won’t, and this will be reflected in everything surrounding us.

Losing my way at NYUAD

When I first arrived here at the NYUAD campus for the first time, I was accompanied by one girl from the senior class who kindly volunteered to show me the way to the residential buildings. We walked from the welcome center, passing by the gigantic words of “NYUAD” that welcome visitors, and then headed left and straight on to the elevator. I was impressed; “where is this elevator taking us?” I asked myself. In less than a minute, I found myself in front of residential buildings, as if I teleported to another place. The idea of buildings that are built on other buildings—particularly our campus—was difficult for me to fathom. At this very moment, I realized how complex the NYUAD campus is. In the days that followed, I struggled to find my way around, was even made fun of by friends who questioned how I couldn’t navigate through the campus and went through embarrassing moments because of it. With all of that, I thought the problem was me, as the design is good, and as long as it looks good, then it is perfect. I was wrong.

Why can’t we find the way easily?

The problem today with design is that there is less focus on the experience of the user, and we are working more on producing the most beautiful designs without caring about the practicality and accessibility of what we design. I believe that questions such as “Is what we are designing suitable for people with disabilities?”, “does this design make it easy for people to navigate around and find their way without being lost?” or “is the signage we are designing catchy enough for people to notice?” are questions that are rarely asked in such design processes. When Professor Goffredo told us that the process of establishing means of wayfinding started right after construction, not in the process of designing the campus itself, it explained a lot to me why anyone is subjected to losing his way around campus, at least ones.

Two weeks ago, my group was asked to go around the NYUAD campus to analyze and evaluate wayfinding on campus starting from the car park in level B2 until we reached the torch club right above D2. Through that process, it happened that we, particularly people who are supposed to be familiar with the campus and its intricacies, even went through lots of problems with finding our way, let alone guests who come here for the first time. Hence, this course made me realize the importance of wayfinding around us.

The purpose of wayfinding

In my opinion, the purpose of wayfinding is making the user able to go around somewhere for the first time, and you, as a designer, has made sure that you prepared the route and the tools for him, through which he, even without prior knowledge on his part, can still able to find his way easily to his destination without losing his way. From what I see today, designers build and expect users to be able to discover and experience for themselves; there is not much focus on how making the user find his way, and if there is, then it is most probably not efficient (consider our campus as an example).

From B2: There are no banners, signage, or anything that can guide through the way

Sometimes designers do leave signs and directions; however, they can be misleading as well depending on the events taking place.

Signage says: No Access, while this is the only way to access the torch club

This can be due to various factors such as:

An unclear numbering system
Not focusing on how the direction design will be applied in real life (and where it will be put and choosing ambiguous pictograms (a triangle or an arrow for instance)

In this picture, it is hard to find where the arrows are pointing to

Using fonts that lead to difficulty in readability
A variety of naming systems used in designs at different names to refer to the same places, which might confuse the user.
We discovered by chance that the University club is the same as the Torch club

While this class helped me put on a new lens of finding such mistakes in wayfinding, it also made me realize how difficult it can be to find solutions, it was eye-opening for me and made me realize how brilliantly our subconscious minds operate the way they do. We should put ourselves in the shoes of the user and think accordingly; if we leave something in front of the user, then it must have a purpose. If there is a button, then the logic says it must be pressed. If there is a sign, then it is there for one to follow. Hence we should always pay attention to these certain cases of affordances because even a slight change in the typeface can lead to drastic changes and how the message and its tone are conveyed. In the end, all it takes is a single sign in the street, which can lead to both the confusion of the user or him finding a way.

Experience Affordance in Umm Al Emarat Park

This weekend I went to the Umm Al Emarat Park to picnic. Surrounded by plenty of plants, stones, and water, the park claims to be a resting place with modern designs for families. We had a lot of fun and had a nice view of the beautiful scenery. But something happened while I was walking around, which made me pay attention to the design of this public space.

Figure 1 https://blog.raynatours.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/umm-al-emarat-park.jpg

I was at the place where the trees were in the middle of the water, and some asymmetrical geometric slates were scattered in the water. What a wonderful view! I thought that it would be nice if I stood on one of these slates and took a photo of me surrounded by the water.

So I did what I thought. However, when I stepped on it, the security guard came over and said to me helplessly “No, you can not do that.” I stepped out with little embarrassment. I stood aside for a while, and I observed that all this security guard did was walk around the space and stop the visitors from stepping on the slates in the water. Isn’t this the same as the scene where people put their elbows on the exhibition platforms in the Louvre?

Figure 2

It is the affordance of the slates in the water that allows people to stand on it. It is the way it is designed that allowed this behavior. The size of the slate is just enough for an adult to stand. The slate is just placed where an adult can easily step on it. The color and material of the slate are the same as the normal road. It is these properties of the environment that provide the conditions for people to do so. It implies and allures people to do so.

Figure 3

One possibility is that the designer was intended to allow people to step on the slates, but later the park managers prevented this for some unknown reasons. But if this is not the designer’s intention, the designer should have designed it in other ways. The designer should have perceived from the user’s point of view. People come to the park on weekend afternoons, enjoying the natural plants and the sunshine, having fun like children. Of course, they want to step onto the slate in the water because why not? Isn’t it cool? Kids who come to the park are more willing to jump on the slate. What’s more, I even found this beautifully rendered promotional photo online where kids are jumping from one slate to another (Figure 4). However, the reality is that security will come and stop it. I think this contradiction may be related to the communication between the management department and the advertising department of the park.

Figure 4 https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTEQQCAoEVI6dsSOU5igtqX-OM46jv9U1VSXw&usqp=CAU

Another place I want to discuss is the park’s main road. The Water and fountains built in the middle of the road add beauty and atmosphere to the park. But it also prevents people from moving freely from the left to the right side of the road. This may not be a problem. But it becomes a problem if the ripe market is located on the main road. There were booths on both sides of the road. When I walked on the right side of the road, I was attracted by the goods on the left. But the water in the middle got in my way.

What many people did was to find the narrowest part of the pool and step over (Figure 6) (I don’t know if this is intentional that the narrowest part of the pool is just one step span for an adult) However, children, elderly people with limited mobility, and disabled people can not step over. They can only bypass the pool in the middle (a pool is about 10-15m long I guess), which definitely is not their desire path.

Figure 6 Figure 7

There are also some raised parts in the pool that makes me confused (Figure 7). If it’s a path for people to go across the pool, it’s not reasonable as it’s actually about 2cm below the water surface. You can still get your feet wet passing it if you’re not careful or if you’re wearing thin-soled slippers. If it’s not a road, I wonder what its purpose is. In fact, some people do use it as a path because of its affordance (though it is not the most ideal road). But the consequence of using this path is that you will encounter a more embarrassing path (Figure 8).

Figure 8

By analyzing examples of suboptimal design in parks, I learned how affordance in environments affects people’s behavior. I learned the importance of affordance and user experience in wayfinding design with my personal experiences. This motivates me to continue to observe the environment around me from the perspective of a designer and learn from the examples around me.

What I learned from Design and Wayfinding so far

Design is something I have never done before, and yet something I have always wanted to do. Taking this course is going to open a whole range of possibilities to me, because it helped me become more familiarized with the main concepts in design and wayfinding in just three weeks of learning.

Design is social

Artists can present their work without any accountability for other people since the sole purpose of art is entertainment, whereas design cannot be selfish – it has to serve other people (hence the term Human-Centered Design, or HCD). Design helps make one more empathetic. A classic example of this is that a designer of a staircase needs to make sure to implement enough space and resources to build a ramp since there are people on wheelchairs and with prams that cannot use stairs to climb up (Another great quote by the professor: “A ramp can replace any staircase with a ramp”). The accessibility aspect of Wayfinding Design comes into play here: all systems of infrastructure must be accessible to everyone. What I love about this is that a person’s disabilities are not defined by a person’s nature but by the environment. If a person cannot perform a particular task, it is not their fault but of the faulty design (take the stairs problem for example again, and another one of the professor’s quotes: “We don’t always notice the exclusiveness of designs. Accessibility needs to go hand-in-hand with design”). This gives hope to many people that suffer from not being able to carry out regular tasks on a daily basis. I believe that if all people learn the basic principles of design, our world would become a much kinder and more inclusive place to live in. But we should start with ourselves first…

Blackfriars Road in London, England

Photograph by Alvin Pastrana

Exclusive Wayfinding lenses

One of the students in an introductory video on wayfinding that we watched during class said that taking the Wayfinding course results in wearing lenses that cannot be taken off. Those lenses are how one sees the world around themselves and the design systems that make living on that world possible. For now, the lenses I have can be taken on and off. If I pay close attention to a particular place on campus, I can now notice what that place’s disadvantages are. During one of the classes, the professor said, “if you are eating soup with a spoon and you notice its shape, then there must be something wrong with that spoon.” As such, the best design is one that is not noticeable. Design is like an invisible force that constantly tries to improve our lives…

The best way to learn is to do

“Think globally, act locally” is a phrase that my high school loved to promote. This course is an educational manifestation of that phrase. But this time, I am truly invested in it. I am convinced – thanks to the activities we have done in and out of the classroom – that our campus Wayfinding system has a lot of areas to improve in, ranging from mocking elevator buttons for visually impaired people to the misleading signage system. It is us Wayfinding students whose responsibility it is to correct the drawbacks of our campus. Of course, it is not as easy when it comes to actual problem-solving. To be honest, when the professor gave us our first individual assignment – the door challenge – I was caught off-guard, and did not know what to do. My result was something that did not make use of any of the universal principles of design. Part of the learning process I guess! Jokes aside, the professor said in one of the earlier lectures to “never underestimate how much we can progress.” He also added that “failing, for a bright person, is failing for the last time in that area.” I hope I am bright!

Unpressable elevator “buttons” for visually impaired people on campus.

Photo by Muhammad Hasin Shabbir

The user is always right, and Affordance

In Design, and especially Wayfinding Design, it is a classic rule that the user is in the right, or, at least, not the one to blame. Design has to consider all the possible usages of a system by a user and isolate the usages that the designer prefers. If a table should not be used to sit on, then that table should be designed in a way that does not let people sit on it. This is called affordance, which is one of – if not the – most important principle in design. In other words, affordance is a property of a design system that defines its possible uses. I wonder if table designers slept during their classes on affordance since I have not ever seen a comfortable table that I cannot sit on!

Of course, it is not that easy. Design has many intricacies that complicate the development of a final product, which can lead to complications. Sometimes designers have to give up on a particular property of their product in order to highlight the other. The question is, how much are you willing to give up to show what you can do best?

P.S. I felt like there is an excellent inspiring phrase that can be written on this curved rectangular wall while I was writing this blog in the library. Check this out and tell me what you think of the social and “photoshopical” aspects of this change!!

Sources:

https://blog.miragestudio7.com/ramp-stairs-for-the-able-and-disable-less-able/3979/

https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/youve-got-to-see-it-to-believe-it-gm1305313808-396237496?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=srp_photos_top&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Funsplash.com%2Fs%2Fphotos%2Fglasses&utm_term=glasses%3A%3A%3A

https://create.vista.com/unlimited/stock-photos/188724600/stock-photo-young-man-sitting-table-talking/

My Initial Thoughts on Wayfinding

Whether it be catching a flight for a Spring Break holiday, heading downtown to the Corniche, or just getting to a class in A6 on time from A2 – we are always navigating through the world in an attempt to get to our desired destination. Sometimes this task is straightforward if routes are easy to navigate. Other times, they may be frustrating and have you going around in circles.

I have always loved traveling and exploring and everything that comes with it: the unknown territory, the finding your way, the uncertainty, and the adventure. With a map in hand and an eye out for signage and directions – I love leading people through new cities, navigating through airports, and the chaos of finding your gate on the other side of the concourse or calling ‘shotgun’ in the car so I can navigate the Google Maps route. There are so many times that I have felt defeated or incompetent when I get lost – or get others lost. It is frustrating when I can not reach where I want to go on time or as easily as I hoped – especially as I pride myself on having a good sense of direction.

Just a couple of weeks into the course, I have begun looking back on such situations with a fresh set of eyes. Perhaps these instances should not have me questioning my sense of direction. Perhaps if there was some sort of signage or some accurate visual representation of the area – if the environment was better conducive – I would not have gotten lost in the first place. Our campus serves as a microcosm for this. There are so many examples of bad wayfinding designs that we have already seen on our very own campus. How can we expect first-years to get to classes on time during the first few weeks of the semester? How can we expect visitors to get to meetings on time? It all goes back to wayfinding and the aspect of user-centered design.

The idea that the “user is always right” is a common mantra in the design world. Good wayfinding design should keep the user and the user experience in mind. This mantra was enforced during our second lesson of the semester through a simple game of Pictionary. In an attempt for the class to remember my name through a simple icon, I decided to draw a smiley face. I chose this because ‘Muskaan’ translates to smile in Hindi and Urdu. However, what I failed to keep in mind was that just because this connection made sense to me, does not mean that it makes sense to everyone – all the users. What if the user interprets the entire emoticon icon rather than just the smile element? Or what if the user does not speak Hindi or Urdu? Does the image make sense then? Again, this served as a microcosm to show that design does not always have the user experience in mind and to be mindful of this when designing. Would it be nice for it to? Yes. Is this reality? Most often not.

To keep the user experience in mind may mean broadening your horizon of what a user is – keeping in mind that you may not be the only user. In the real world, we see this with issues of accessibility, language, typography, brand identity, etc. Are stairs needed, or would a small ramp do the same job – while allowing wheelchair user accessibility? Does this font interfere with comprehension for those with dyslexia? These questions were not obvious to me initially when looking at wayfinding. However, their importance has become highlighted just a couple of weeks into this course.

Such questions should guide designers when designing wayfinding systems. Wayfinding systems, in any form, should guide people and allow for seamless navigation. They should not pose additional problems or confusion in navigation. Perhaps a wayfinding system is most effective when the user is not alerted of its presence. In other words, when the system is integrated seamlessly within the built environment and provides accurate and complete information to a user, the user will have an uninterrupted journey. Perhaps I can assist my argument here with a counterexample.

We do not have to look too far to see bad wayfinding systems. Let’s take a look at our campus. The signage system around campus is full of inconsistent language and ambiguous – or even outright incorrect – directions. This can leave the user confused and disoriented. For instance, we have seen two pillars opposite each other point in two different directions to the same place. Where actually is it? Looking at those signs, I guess we will never know. The current signage system may cause users to take a second, stop, and reevaluate their surroundings to decipher which of these directions are accurate. The signage system should integrate itself into the greater campus system and almost be unnoticeable to a user. It should not force them to stop in their tracks and evaluate the directions themselves. In that case, what would be the point of the wayfinding system anyway?

Examples of Bad Wayfinding signage systems on campus

Widening our scope beyond NYUAD, let’s take a look at the greater Saadiyat Island. One of my first weeks on campus last spring, a friend and I went to the Lourve Abu Dhabi. We decided to walk back to campus. Google Maps found us the shortest route – which would take us about an hour. However, when we looked into the satellite view of the path, the path consisted of a nonexistent road supposedly located in the Saadiyat Marina District. If we had not examined the path ourselves, we would have been looking into an area of sand and construction, and perhaps our walk to campus would have turned into a nightmare. Interesting, right? Isn’t it fair to assume that Google Maps is reliable? Apparently not.

Source: Google Maps

All this to say that wayfinding is everywhere. We use it almost every day, and it must be integrated into the built environment in a conducive and efficient manner. A couple of weeks into this course, I realize that perhaps this class may be a blessing and a curse. It has become difficult for my friends to take me anywhere without me commenting on the “bad wayfinding” at least once. I have become more aware of the disruptions that a bad wayfinding system can cause as a user. At the same time, however, being able to notice these disruptions is the first step in being able to fix them. As Professor Goffredo mentioned in class, our position as students at NYUAD is a unique one. We are within a system that is just getting started, which means we also hold the ability to critique, better, and build it.

Post One: My Thoughts on Wayfinding and Design – Yeji Kwon

Four weeks into the course, I am starting to realize that this class is not only about reading maps and following directions well but rather about equipping us with the right tools to navigate our own way in all areas of life that require decision making and problem solving.

I am coming to realize the importance of being attentive and sensitive to our surroundings from not only a single perspective, but from every possible perspectives that exist out there. This attentiveness seems to be a crucial quality in being a person capable of designing for accessibility.

This comes particularly from the example that was mentioned in class on the steps in Jumeirah beach. When I initially saw the image of the stairs on top of the beach, I saw no single issue with it. In fact, I saw the steps as a considerate design choice for people who didn’t want sand in their sandles. I completely overlooked the fact that a person could not walk on the steps. I was taken aback by recognizing a privilege which I have taken for granted. It made me question – how many more perspectives and lives out there am I oblivious to? How do I expand my point of view? I think the answer lies in being being attentive, keeping my ears open, and embracing sensitivity.

I used to think that sensitivity was a weakness that one had to endure and overcome to become stronger, but I have come to realize that it is the single most important quality that allows one to see and feel things beyond what the average person can. This, now, I perceive as a strength; as the first step to solving a problem is recognizing the problem itself.

This further made me realize that any quality we perceive as a weakness, can be reframed into a strength. Physical and mental disabilities present more challenges to one’s lives – but it also gives them the ability to empathize with people with the same challenges. This thought inspired me to view my own struggles in a more positive light. The experience of pain and challenges allows me to relate with those with the same pain and challenges. Such knowledge equips me with more experiences to ensure I am designing for a wider range of people.

Before recognizing this, I was designing solely from my perspective and saw no issue with it. Activities we had in class helped me see that such approach to design in the real world would be disastrous. In the first group activity where we presented a design brief for a sports event, we were required to help visitors navigate their way to the stadium. We first needed to abandon our mental model of the campus completely, and design from the perspective of a newcomer. I looked through emails of my candidate weekend to remember how that felt like – being completely oblivious to what NYUAD looked like. It was quite challenging trying to unlearn something embedded so deeply within your conscious. We also tried not to make assumptions and expect visitors to know pieces of information, meaning we had to start from scratch – from a blank slate.

I have also become appreciative of the soft skills in design – such as the ability to communicate clearly and succinctly, being practical and realistic through keeping your word and delivering what you promised. The work itself isn’t the end product – you are, in a way, part of the product that you must sell. The work presents a solution but how you present the work and yourself is equally important.

This brings up the question what is the “right way” to present yourself as a designer? I believe it comes from the inner values that the designer holds and being aware of the “air of the time” – Zeitgeist, in German. The ability to read and catch the cultural shifts as they happen requires a multidisciplinary set of knowledge and skills. Hence, it seems that being a good designer does not solely depend on one’s ability to use their tools perfectly, illustrator for example, but knowing how and where to use them.

And there is no single answer to it, which is the most challenging and beautiful part of design.

This class has been inspiring me to be more attentive to my surroundings and wanted to share some of the results of doing so here 🙂

My first thoughts on Wayfinding

The idea of wayfinding seemed something simple when I decided to take this class; just some beautifully designed signs and labels and that should be it for showing someone the way and for my class assignments. However, through the very first class activity, the complexities of the subject were revealed. The game of ‘pictionary’ to create something simple that will immediately convey my name and my home country led me to a complex thinking process. Nonetheless, I came up with a flag, an emoji, and a sine curve which I thought someone would easily read as ‘Hasin is from Pakistan’. Quite clearly, it was not to be the case. A straightforward inspection of the drawing showed the massive knowledge assumption on the end of the user and a use of images that might not be specific enough.

However, before diving into the understanding of the design elements I gained, the entire process of wayfinding and design around this theme in itself is very dynamic, comprehensive, and impactful. It all just starts of from an idea, or a bunch of different ideas, that find modifications and adjustments (even slight ones) through a process of discussions and evaluation of the context. Passing through these rigorous tests of what design suits the context, it will eventually be translated into something that will not only convey the idea and a meaning but will create a massive impact. This impact ranges from an ease in navigation and wayshowing, but also in creating an identity for the place the design is produced for. So the impact eventually associates the design to the place’s visual identity to anyone who comes across the design.

Intricacies of Wayfinding Design

Thus far, we were introduced to these two important concepts of design and the impact of the design in building an eventual understanding of wayfinding. Let’s inspect the element of design now. When faced with the task of designing, a wide array of questions immediately pop up. Questions like ‘What to design?’, ‘How to design?’, ‘What to convey from the design itself?’ among many others can have complicated answers derived from a series of exploratory analysis of the context and intended purpose of the design. However, at the center of every good design for wayfinding is the core idea of user-centered design. The design should cater to the user and take into account the idea of what the user might be looking for. This demands a no-knowledge or a minimal-knowledge assumption on the part of the user yet still designing something that is clearly able to guide the user in a way that seems natural. So instead of asking the user to go to the east to get to the ‘East dining hall’ when they are at the ‘West dining hall’, it might be more effective and intuitive to just demonstrate something that says ‘go to the other side of the campus’. This design can then account for intricacies of different design elements and concepts, while keeping the overall concept simple and easy to understand. Here, a wayfinding designer may leverage associations of the place translated into the design (e.g. palms to show the central plaza of NYUAD) yet using something as simple as grey rectangles to depict buildings. Another design element for wayfinding design is typography, where it possesses the power to essentially set the tone of what is being conveyed. The typographic design, in addition to being clear and vivid in wayfinding, also needs to account for the identity it can give to a place. Therefore, the process of wayfinding design becomes a rather complicated one that aims to create something simple, intuitive, and natural by taking into account all these complexities of design.

Wayfinding Design and Identity

This brings us to our second point about a place’s visual identity being derived from wayfinding design. Wayfinding design incorporates a variety of different elements to leverage the power of design in achieving its goals. This can lead to modifying an existing or creating a new visual identity for the place or context. From different colors and the meaning they convey, to the use of specific typefaces and creating logos – everything starts to give a meaning to the place and, soon, an association of its identity with that place. For an NYUAD student, it is the association of Faiza the falcon to athletics department’s offices, events, and facilities. For a tourist it may be the natural thought of New York City after coming across the Helvetica font. The point is, wayfinding design leads to identities being created or modified and, thus, the entire exercise of wayfinding design becomes a critical one for the designer who has to take into account the impact a design will create in addition to achieving its other goals.

Wayfinding – what does it mean?

So my understanding of wayfinding shifted from something that would be fairly straightforward to a practice that has underlying complexities, and something that demands thought and understanding of the varying contexts and users to eventually translate into something that not only achieves its goals but goes on to create impact in the form of identities and much more. However, what about the concept of ‘Wayfinding’ itself? What does that even mean? And what does it signify? Let’s explore.

Discussions around wayfinding design revealed so many different ideas about the intuitiveness of wayfinding design, and how it should feel natural, and how it should be centered around the user. The reason, it turns out, is that wayfinding is built upon how we practice wayshowing. So why is it that a very beautiful looking building may still be poor in wayfinding design because it failed to incorporate a wayfinding designer in its initial planning and development? Here a quote from Clement Mok, former creative director of Apple Inc., helps set things into context:

“If you look at studies in wayfinding, everything from exhibit designs to building the cathedrals, it’s about creating a complete system. It’s about looking at the whole”.

Thus, at its core, wayfinding design is something that is not necessarily separate from the overall design but is something that should be integrated within the entire design process to complete a whole system that just feels natural. The entire system should be built around guiding, showing, and assisting a user in wayfinding. We practice wayfinding in unknown places to find our way; a good wayfinding design takes that into account and is “…built on how we practice wayfinding” (W>W). Thus, instead of throwing in a bunch of labels and signs to often make up for a poor wayfinding design, the design itself should scream what it is all about. That is where integration of wayfinding in the entire design process comes in: to create a whole system. In essence, incorporation of wayfinding into the entire design process makes the process intuitive, helps to make the directions clear, and eliminates ambiguities. NYUAD campus might as well be considered a prime example of a system full of ambiguities in wayshowing since it seems to lack a good integration of essential wayfinding principles. Such poor designs then lead to not only ambiguities but also accessibility issues. It then becomes more about just checking the boxes for compliance rather than making a genuine effort to guide someone to some place.

Wayfinding then becomes about orienting people in unknown spaces and making the process natural. Wayfinding enables the entire system to become part of the process. Wayfinding design undertakes the responsibility of accounting for so many complexities of a good wayfinding design including those discussed above. Thus, wayfinding becomes a complicated system that is integrated in good designs to keep them simple.

As Kevin Lynch, American urban planner and author of ‘The Image of the City’ where he coined the term ‘wayfinding’, says:

“The terror of being lost comes from the necessity that a mobile organism be oriented in its surroundings”.

Wayfinding is what helps eliminate this terror from the mobile organism.