The True Pathway to Success

Effective wayfinding requires detailed planning and consideration. In order to get the maximum return on investment, wayfinding needs to be coordinated and integrated at the very beginning of the facilities design and pre-construction, rather as an afterthought towards the end.

The good news is that there’s a plethora of modern wayfinding solutions that will meet every need your facility may require, whether that may be: providing directional insight, reinforcing the organization, business, and/or brand.

You really don’t need to have an extensive knowledge behind wayfinding signage to grasp its importance in your life. Something that on the surface level- can seem so minuscule, but when push comes to shove- can be the make or break of your business.

Signage without strategy isn’t wayfinding- it’s clutter.

For wayfinding to truly work, it must be integrated into the architecture of a facility at the beginning of the design and planning process, rather than simply tacked on at the end.

Wayfinding can be thought of as not only a means to an end- but a way in which an organization can leave a favorable impression in a visitors mind long after he or she has left the premises.

What needs to be established is a set ‘wayfinding plan’. What are the main goals you are trying to set within your facility- and that’s the starting point for designing your plan.

For instance, we had the Pastor of Saint James come to us; and his MAIN priority was to solve his biggest pet peeve… Pastor was sick of telling people where the bathrooms were! Something as simple as that can be fixed by wayfinding… it helps you ‘find’ your ‘way’

There’s no need to fret if designing your architecture around wayfinding isn’t feasible. We are the experts when it comes to post development organization. We encourage you to ask us for our opinions. Far too often we see others face these problems:

Expense of replacement-

Many facility managers, facing tightening budgets, want to replace outdated or inaccurate signs but fear the financial consequences of doing so. Even though they may understand the immediate and long-term benefits to the company, they may find it difficult to convey them to management and executives who still believe that wayfinding is merely about signs and do not often realize the “hidden value” behind a comprehensive wayfinding plan

Quality of visitor experience-

Great signage that does its job often goes unnoticed. For a wayfinding system to succeed, an organization must know its visitors and how they will navigate the facility so that it can create the appropriate signage that reflects proper messaging, language, visibility issues, and placement that will result in a great visitor experience.

Complexity of modern architecture-

Occasionally a facility may inadvertently place more emphasis on the design of its interior and not enough on the actual logic of the space. Chances are, you’ve been in the all-too-common situation where your search for the nearest restroom leads you in circles around an expansive, attractive but not too visitor-friendly environment. A good wayfinding plan, however, can accommodate even the most esoteric design, but it must be incorporated as early in the planning stages as possible.

But to contrast, the benefits: