Accessible Wayfinding

A practical 4 hour wayfinding workshop about maps, signs and helping people find their own way

Four part image about the wayfinding workshop outputs

Workshop description

Question: how do your maps, signs and touchpoints support visitors to make the journey they wish to meet the needs they have?

This workshop is to clarify the key elements of wayfinding design in physical and digtial places. Using the ABCD format (Alignment, Boundaries, Centered and Direction) as a foundation, the workshop works thru the theoretical and practical issues of delivering wayfinding systems that meet the needs of many different types of visitor.

Question: how can we plan and produce systems of information in multiple formats across many content platforms to meet the needs of people with differing perceptions due to the diversity of physical and cognitive capacities?

Using knowledge and practical experience from both research and many projects in physical, digital and virtual places, Alastair guides workshop participant conversations to think of what is needed, what outcomes are wanted and what can be delivered (within budgets and technical capabilities). Accessible wayfinding needs such conversations to understand sometimes hidden and sometimes apparently contradicatory requirements.

This workshop is particularly useful at Project Kickoff and early stage design development stages.

It has been used by clients to align professional teams with differing technical backgrounds in terms of what the project is expecting to achieve and what could be developed.

Photos

Multiple photos of Burlesdon Brick musuem site and then maps drawn onto paper in cafe
On-site mapping workshop with sensory safari tour to explore how place is experienced
Workshop participants using post it notes to adjust public space signage while a small child wanders past
Paper prototyping in public space in Dortmund

Booking

This workshop can be easily added to any conference that wants to explore how time affects information and design for us all. The themes and ideas can either be kept at a broad level (for mixed audiences) or tightened to specific topics (for specialist audiences).

For in-house training, the workshop can be customised to meet corporate purposes (in terms of strategic or project goals). This means adapting the content to align with internal language and anticipated needs.

Contact

Email Alastair Somerville of Acuity Design using the Contact Form