“If experience isn’t your strategy, you’re doing it wrong.”
The provocative statement from PwC’s Future of Customer Experience report is a battle cry that all business owners, regardless of industry, size, product/service, or target audience, should rally around.
Here's their proof:
- 73% of all customers say experience is a critical factor in their purchasing decisions, just behind price and quality.
- 43% would pay more for greater convenience.
- 42% would pay more for a friendly, welcoming environment.
- 65% of U.S. customers consider a positive brand experience more influential than advertising.
A memorable and seamless customer experience is a powerful differentiator. For companies that rely on in-person interactions, wayfinding signage plays a crucial role in the customer experience. Beyond simple navigation, wayfinding can affect customer satisfaction, shape brand perception, and leave a lasting impression.
What is Wayfinding Signage?
Wayfinding signage is a strategic communication tool that helps people navigate public spaces. Effective wayfinding will guide a visitor to and through a public space without confusion or barriers. From permanent monument signs at an entrance to temporary banners highlighting special events, every organization with a building, facility, campus, or other in-person destination depends on clear, effective signage to attract attention and help visitors get where they need to go.
Types of Wayfinding Signage
There are several kinds of wayfinding signage used to enhance the visitor experience and maintain traffic flow. Each sign serves a unique purpose. They also work together to help people feel confident and comfortable in a space.
- Directional Signs: Guide visitors to specific locations, such as entrances, exits, and restrooms. They also help visitors navigate complex layouts using arrows, maps, and directories.
- Identification Signs: Label specific areas, rooms, or departments so visitors can confirm they're in the right place. Common examples include office or conference room door signs, department names, and room numbers.
- Informational Signs: Provide helpful information that improves the visitor experience, such as business hours, policies, safety instructions, or event details.
- Regulatory Signs: Set boundaries for visitor behavior for safety and compliance. Examples include "No Smoking," "Restricted Access," and "Authorized Personnel Only" signs.
- Monument Signs: Large, freestanding signs placed at entrances or street corners to show the location and identity of a business or organization.
- Digital/Interactive Signs: Offer dynamic information and updates through screens or kiosks. These signs are common in malls, airports, and other large places. They help visitors find real-time information, such as schedules or maps.
- Temporary Signage: Provide information for short-term events or seasonal activities. These include promotional banners, event wayfinding signs, and construction detour signs.
Effective wayfinding exists at the intersection of form and function. It blends design and placement to ensure visitors can easily see and understand directions when and where they need them most.
Starting with Space: How to Begin Wayfinding Design
When designing wayfinding signage, the Phase 3 team begins by fully understanding the client’s space and the desired customer experience. The best way to do this is by experiencing the space physically. Photos and floor plans provide some insights. But they can't replace walking through a building and driving around the area. When we do this, we identify and understand the critical points where visitors might hesitate, feel unsure, or take wrong turns. Seeing these natural "decision points" firsthand helps the team determine where clear, impactful signage is most needed.
Conversations with clients are equally important at the start of the design process. Their experience (and the feedback they've heard from visitors) will reveal navigation challenges and opportunities unique to the location. Even in new builds, where visitor patterns may not yet exist, clients often provide thoughtful insights that help shape a customized wayfinding strategy. This combination of hands-on exploration and client collaboration allows us to design wayfinding systems that make navigation intuitive and seamless.
Balancing From and Function in Wayfinding Design
It's also essential to assess both the architectural context of the building and the client's aesthetic. Wayfinding signage should feel like a natural extension of the environment, complementing rather than overwhelming it. Yet, there is a delicate balance between integration and distinction. Signage should feel like it belongs, but it should also stand out. The Phase 3 team tackles this balance by aligning wayfinding signage with unique elements of the client's brand. Foundational brand elements play a significant role in signage design. Brand fonts, colors, and patterns, along with the space's architecture, create the framework for clear, focused, and impactful signage.
Addressing Common Challenges in Wayfinding Signage
All organizations face similar challenges with wayfinding signage. They want signs that stand out, fit their budget, and are durable. They also want a disruption-free installation process. Many Phase 3 clients also want a "set it and forget it" solution—signage that doesn't need regular cleaning, repairs, or replacement.
A good sign partner will help clients overcome these common challenges. Phase 3's integrated design, fabrication, and installation approach ensures a smooth and reliable process from concept to completion. Clients avoid the coordination challenges and potential miscommunications that often happen with multiple vendors. This approach results in long-lasting, effective wayfinding signage that requires minimal disruptions and maintenance.
Tailoring Wayfinding to Unique Environments
Wayfinding is never a one-size-fits-all solution. Every setting, from retail spaces to museums, has distinct requirements that are based on the products or services offered, the customers and staff using the space, and the space itself.
Organizations that Benefit from Wayfinding Signage
Here are some key sectors that require wayfinding solutions and why wayfinding is necessary:
- Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities: Helps patients and visitors find their way through complex layouts.
- Retail Stores and Shopping Centers: Guides customers through various sections or stores and improves their shopping experiences.
- Office Buildings: Assists employees and clients in finding offices, conference rooms, and amenities within large corporate spaces.
- Multi-Unit Housing: Assists residents and guests in navigating apartment complexes, identifying building amenities, and finding parking areas.
- Universities and Educational Institutions: Helps students, faculty, and visitors locate classrooms, offices, and common areas on campus.
- Museums and Cultural Institutions: Provides clear directions to exhibits, restrooms, and event spaces, enhancing visitor engagement.
- Airports and Transportation Hubs: Guide travelers through terminals, boarding gates, and baggage claim areas.
- Parks and Recreational Facilities: Help visitors find trails, amenities, and points of interest within expansive outdoor spaces.
- Event Venues and Convention Centers: Direct attendees to specific booths, stages, and facilities during events or conferences.
Even in similar spaces, like two office buildings, unique factors, including architecture, layout, traffic flow, and visitor expectations, require different approaches to signage and navigation. A good design team will collaborate with clients to create wayfinding that addresses their unique environment.
Ensuring Adaptability and Future-Proofing
Effective wayfinding signage should strike a balance between contemporary appeal and enduring function. In other words, it must be timeless. Timeless design will always be relevant and functional despite trends or technology. Create signage that doesn't rely on trendy graphics or fleeting color palettes. Instead, focus on clarity, simplicity, and the user experience. Classic design principles—like proportion, hierarchy, and legibility—will enable signs to stand out over time.
Flexibility is also a key focus. Signage systems should evolve with the needs of the facility and its visitors. One solution is incorporating interchangeable elements that allow for easy updates and modifications. For example, design wayfinding signs that utilize modular panels, which can be changed to reflect changes in room names, office locations, or services offered. This keeps signage relevant and practical as an organization evolves. Yet, adaptability comes with its own set of challenges. It's essential to ensure that flexible elements are tamper-resistant to maintain the integrity of the signage. That might mean positioning the modular panels out of reach or locking the panels within the frame.
Anticipating future needs will create signage solutions that are both relevant today and adaptable for tomorrow.
Case Study: Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Phase 3's wayfinding signage project at Fernbank Museum in Atlanta, GA, involved a complete re-evaluation of their sign package. The work included redesigning the exterior wayfinding and interior navigation. It also included all room, restroom, monument, and parking signs.
Primary Objectives and Challenges
Designed in the early 1990s, Fernbank's architecture was a subtle backdrop to its exhibits. It was purposely designed to be understated. However, the muted white, beige, and light gray color palette of the wayfinding sign package blended in and caused challenges for the museum's primary audiences: families with children and school groups. The existing signs lacked visibility and clarity, making navigation difficult. The museum needed new strategically placed signage that was eye-catching and easy to read.
Incorporating Brand User Experience into the Design
Phase 3’s goal was to integrate Fernbank’s brand within the museum's environment so the signage felt cohesive rather than forced. Understanding the demographics—particularly the need to engage young children—also guided our design choices.
Fernbank's recent rebranding exercise was integral to the signage design. The bright brand colors attracted attention, while new photographic textures added visual interest, primarily through translucent window graphics. The new brand also featured clear and legible fonts, which enhanced the new wayfinding signage's readability.
The Main Hall
The museum's main hall features an octagonal shape with a large open atrium. While this design allows for clear sightlines across the space, it made it challenging for visitors to identify specific exhibits and their locations. To address this, the team placed directional signs next to each staircase and opposite the elevators. These are critical reference points for visitors navigating the space. The entrance level, in particular, required more directional signage. We also added an extensive directory near the entrance to improve visitor traffic flow.
Exhibit Space
To accommodate the museum's quarterly rotating exhibits, the team developed a modular directional signage and directory system. This innovative solution features branded high-strength magnetic inserts. The removable inserts provide both seamless aesthetic integration and practical functionality. Strong magnets maintain correct placement during everyday use. Yet, the staff can easily update the signs when needed.
Fernbank's ongoing work with Phase 3 on other projects shows that the wayfinding system has positively impacted visitor navigation and experience.
Phase 3 is Your Wayfinding Expert
Effective wayfinding is a blend of design, functionality, and brand alignment. This article covers the fundamentals of wayfinding, from understanding client needs and integrating brand elements to designing adaptable signage for evolving spaces.
Phase 3's integrated team combines on-site assessments, client collaboration, and in-house production. With expertise in each phase of the process, Phase 3 delivers signage that enhances the visitor experience, aligns with brand identity, and stands the test of time. Our approach helps create spaces that guide, inform, and inspire every visitor, making each interaction memorable and positive. Contact us today to discuss enhancing your customer experience through wayfinding.