Twelve sorts of wayfinding information

There are only twelve sorts of wayfinding information. Twelve? Is that a lot or a little? On the one hand, it sounds really restrictive to say ‘actually there are only twelve ways you can present wayfinding information’. On the other, can you even name twelve different ways? In this talk, Andrew Barker discussed the twelve types of wayfinding information. He has developed this way of thinking about wayfinding information through designing wayfinding systems and researching with people about their everyday wayfinding activities. Some of the different types of wayfinding information are obvious, but others are less well-used and perhaps deserve more attention. The distinctions between these twelve sorts of wayfinding information are driven by four simple questions. And if you look down the telescope from the other end, these four questions are a useful tool for thinking about how to decide which sort of wayfinding information is best for any given situation – which is useful when thinking about planning a wayfinding system.

About our speaker

Andrew Barker has a long history of working across many different aspects of user-centred design. As well as the wayfinding design that you’d expect to find, he’s also worked extensively as a designer for print and digital information products, and he’s worked as a researcher in industry and academia. Along the way he has acquired a PhD in how people interact with information. He is also chair of the Sign Design Society and earlier this year he was interviewed by Monocle on the subject of wayfinding design (link). He is currently working as a behavioural researcher in the UK civil service exploring how people find the stuff they need in both real and digital domains. What remains constant throughout his work is an interest in user-centred design – changing the man-made world so that it is more user-friendly.

Recording