When trying to determine the most direct path to a desired destination—whether it be in a web search, in a new building, or in a park— we apply the same wayfinding framework, which simultaneously seeks out clues about where we are, and where we need to go. The same four stages of wayfinding apply regardless of what we are navigating, and they are: Orientation, Route Decision, Route Monitoring, and Destination Recognition.1
A few months ago, I came across a great video of a wayfinding system onboard the Royal Cruise Lines, appropriately enough called The Wayfinder, and I thought it impressive that they applied these four stages of wayfinding as a key part of the unique cruise ship experience.
By watching the video, you can see how Four Winds Interactive designed for the four stages of wayfinding:
- Orientation is how one understands his or her relative location with respect to nearby landmarks and the final destination. At the 00:39 mark in the video, the process of finding one’s stateroom is demonstrated. It starts by first orienting you, then visually showing you the route to your room.
- Route Decision is the process of selecting a route by which to get to the destination. It is preferable when there are less routes to choose from, and short routes are preferred. With The Wayfinder, one can also determine how busy certain destinations are prior to making the trek. The information provided offers alternate options around which to make more informed decisions (02:15 mark)
- Route Monitoring is the constant reassessment of one’s chosen route to confirm one is headed in the right direction. The ship’s elegant use of Braille signage ship-wide assists vision-impaired guests in monitoring their progress to their destination. (For more information, start at the 01:54 mark)
- Destination Recognition is how one realizes (s)he has arrived at the destination. Destinations throughout the ship are given clear and consistent visual treatments so as to improve destination recognition.
I also appreciate how Royal Caribbean provided traditional signage systems as well as the newer interactive solution. Not only may is this signage be preferred by some of the luddites, I mean, the more traditional among us, but it also can provide much needed Route Monitoring along the way to one’s desired destination.
(“Wayfinding” is the 16th of 125 universal principles of design that I will cover this year.)
References
1. Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler, Rockport Publishers, 2010, p. 260-261.
Also See:
The seminal research on Wayfinding is The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch, MIT Press, 1960.
Listen to Cenydd Bowles’ fantastic Wayfinding podcast from the IA Summit 2010.
Follow @wayfinding on Twitter
