An excellent Wayfinding system is one that easily integrates and interacts with the wider digital environment. The vast majority of people enjoy the benefits of well designed Wayfinding systems every day, but most likely aren’t aware of the impact they have.
Wayfinding is something that blends into the background of our everyday life but is crucial to the way we navigate different environments. Wayfinding is essentially a system of information that helps to guide users through different built environments. Navigation has evolved from written maps to a nearly fully digital landscape. This is why it’s crucial that our Wayfinding systems work cohesively with the present technology.
Research shows that in 2020, around 84% of adults in the UK own a smartphone. These smartphone users will use these devices to find directions and source information that will help guide them to various chosen locations. Whether they use Apple Maps, Waze or Citymapper, etc., technology will come into play and it’s crucial that the necessary Wayfinding system correlates with the given information.
The Wayfinding systems that we see in action today have been carefully planned to adapt to changes in the digital world. The constant feed of live information that smartphones and navigation systems provide allows us to be up to date with everything pertinent to our destination. Live information has revolutionised the way people are able to navigate. You can find more information about the impact the digital world has on live information, here.
Wayfinding has many applications, varying from the route someone may take through a park to helping users navigate much more complicated areas such as airports, major cities, and foreign environments. One of the main goals of a Wayfinding system is to help its user navigate the area with ease. Have you ever used digital navigation while driving? You’ve probably run into a scenario where the navigation has rerouted your journey due to heavy traffic, a motor accident, or just simply a more scenic route. This automatic response makes the users’ overall experience much smoother and hassle-free.
In the working world, connectivity is crucial. It allows people to do their jobs efficiently and effectively without having to worry about how they’re going to get to different destinations. We are surrounded by rapidly evolving technology and workers need easy access to information no matter what device they are using. This is why it’s important to develop apps that can be linked and provide live information to different computers and smartphones. These apps may also include things like integrations for calendars and appointment systems. As well as updating other devices and applications for things like parcel deliveries, patient arrival, and tracking the completion of maintenance jobs.
When it comes to user experience in the wider digital environment, the design needs to be consistent on every touchpoint. This takes away a lot of confusion because users will know what to expect when using similar systems on different devices. A key link to boosting user experience revolves around the mapping design being used. Without an easy to comprehend and follow mapping design, area or device users will struggle to do what they intended. Thankfully, the world of wayfinding has introduced high standards of legibility in all different projects. You can have a further look at that here.
Overall, wayfinding and signage go hand in hand with the wider digital environment. We hope that this article provided some insights into different ways wayfinding and signage systems interact with our everyday lives. If you have any questions about a potential wayfinding project, why not give us a call? We’d be happy to help!