Wayfinding Theory

Information Design: The Wayfinding Theory

For seven years I drove trucks I have done everything from running fright around the corner from one building to another, and running freight across the country from coast to coast. I would love be to be able to say that the invention of the GPS made my life great, but those are made for cars not truckers for the simple reason that low bridges are not marked on them for starters. Wayfinding is what kept me from driving in circles for seven years. There are three major processes to way-finding it is these three steps that makes finding point A to point B possible. The decision making is step one followed by step too the decision execution, and finely the information processing that enables the ability to make, and execute the decision process (Jacobsen pg 88-89). This process like following a GPS has it’s good and bad components the pro’s and con’s that we dread so much.

PRO’S:

As described in (Gibson pg 13) provides direction in a complex world filled with cities.

If the thought of wayfinding makes you think of just signs you would be wrong it includes anything that directs you towards your destination.

CON’S

One con is not everyone needs the same amount of information in order to travel from one point to another. This can put a damper on the design for the computer cannot decide based on human thought.

Another con or flaw depending on your outlook on life is the fact that computers are not perfect, and getting a graphic design and architectural design to work hand in hand can be a problem.

Not everyone likes a little graphic designed car on a screen driving on a graphic city road with arrows telling you where to turn myself I would rather have words printed on the screen.

If you’re now thinking to yourself what is wrong with this guy I thought this blog was about information design then the answer is: No I have not gone mad. Information design and wayfinding can work hand in hand. Just as drivers and truckers alike rely on directions to figure out where they are going so doesn’t website viewers. I haven’t driven a truck in several years and now I work as a photographer my website I have been working on for some-time now. I want people to have the “Steve Jobs Apple” experience, and by that I mean I want my site to be user friendly I want people to feel at home not lost and left feeling like they never got to see any of my prints. Making websites essay to maneuver by simple direction sounds like such a simple task the reality is it is a task usually over looked. In my case if I overlook the way-finding process than I will not be selling prints and my rent will not get paid nor will I be eating.

The "ART" of information design

I titled the blog understanding information design, and what would be a better name is what information design is. To simply understand what it is would be to log into your computer and google the term, but to say what it is would be to give a basic understanding of what information design is and then continue to break it down as well as taking it different directions.

A simple answer would be “taking complex information and breaking it down,” but I am not an computer science major and I am not trying to break a major source code here. The idea of the class is to break down what we are seeing and reading everyday and understanding that the words and symbols are more than just that. It is all information design, designed to send a message.

Information designers come up with ways to get the message across whether its directions programmed into a car GPS or a poster hanging on the wall. Information has to do more than just display a message it has to grab your attain such as that little orange sticker on a bottle of pills. I mean I have a bad knee, back and I am visiting doctors all the time. Medications are prescribed left and right most I don’t take but some I do. The one thing I always read, because it stands out is the little orange sticker the one that reads warnings. That is information design the message was created by a designer.