The ways of “Way Finding”
Long ago, during the summer holidays of school, I travelled to my grandfather's place to a town called Hubli. We often took the night train “Kittur Express”, traveled 8 hours, gazing stars, twinkling lights of the passing towns and villages. My heart thumped as we got nearer to the destination. I loved and longed for the vacations, as all our cousins were free to play endlessly for three long months. I used to get restless in the morning as train crossed the black fields that grew cotton. I waited for one sight - of “Nrupatunga Betta” a tiny hillock that rose behind the morning light showing the silhouette of the town with tiny buildings. For me, it was a “Sign” of arrival of “Hubli”. My grandfather’s house was at the foot hills. The sight satisfied my desperate longing, as now I knew my way to the house. The hill signalled the arrival of a complete vacation.
Similarly, in a village called “Hulkoti”, I looked out for a Tamarind tree. My uncle's house was just a few steps away. The tree remained a strong memory as we cherished playing on it for days. We made our homes, played with squirrels, sang songs on the tree. The tree was a signal of joy in the village of “Hulkoti”. I can list endless memories! I looked for the pond in the village of “Asundi”. The pond almost symbolised the state of the village. If the water was low, the village looked less prosperous and down and if the pond was filled, everyone in the village seem happy! When I passed my eighth standard I was left alone to travel from Bengaluru to Hubli. I used these events and reached my destination.
I am sure, each one of you will have tons of such examples in your life. Love to hear your experiences. Please type in the comments :-).
Wayfinding is an intuitive process. The mind picks/records locations and events that are memorable and cherishable, process it, tag it, so that you could use it next time if you wanted. As humans, naturally we desire to cherish events and plan our search for destinations based on these key events.
You can do a quick fun exercise. Can you describe your journey from your house to your place of work? If possible try to sketch it after your have finished your description. Note the things that give you joy, also note the things that you hate.
Birds find their way during migrations combining their instincts with natural surroundings that include the sun, magnetic field, stars, smell, terrains and following their flocks. Their journeys are unbelievably hard crossing oceans and mountains. What inspires them may not be just a functional requirement of food or breeding, but the longingness to cherish event of eating and breeding. Afterall they also have hearts!. Honey bees are able to find ways to their hives in spite of changing locations. The scientists use the term “mental maps” to articulate this mystery.
Today, our modern way finding tools are sophisticated and accurate. From satellite maps, CCTV cameras, Radars, Location Sensors, Computable maps like google maps, Augmented reality, Drones etc have evolved over time with a single purpose to make wayfinding more easier to people. Maps use a cartographic methods to create loads of informations you may need while travelling. On the physical world, Designers have used wayfinding Symbols, pictograms, textual information, directional signs to help people navigate the locality. Today I use google maps extensively to “Survive” the traffic and be more efficient in my travel time and money. I have lost the old ways of exploring an unknown terrain without maps or aids. More than exploring, i also have reduced cherishing events. These events were key to remember the way I wanted to travel around.
“If you do not cherish the events, you are more likely to forget the way”
To cherish any event, you will have to spend time in that place, involve in play, have pleasant activities or what we call “make yourself live the place”. Todays and tomorrow's wayfinding tools are “Non Living” experiences, that may find it hard to include these events as they are live. We may depend on them for functional reasons, to save time, money, to record an event, to capture a moment, also get nostalgic over time. That's the limitation of these tools.
We are excited to design a “Wayfinding” system for a Indian Local Market “Sante”. We will use western tools may be rational approaches of designing pictograms, symbols, textual content, local language, directional signage all designed on softwares that help us to produce executable designs. We will prototype, make specs, write handbooks and so forth and work on creating an identity to the place. We will aim for easy identification of functions, safety and regulatory symbols designed to make the place feel more secured. But the exercise it limited to requirement.
When I asked people, how do they know or find their way to shop they like to buy from, I received some interesting insights.
“ I know the person from whom i want to buy, I have been buying from him from a long time, I trust him, quality of the product, I know where he sits”
“My intention to go to market is to kill my time, I like to simply hang around and if my mood permits may buy some stuff for home”
“I have absolutely no time in the morning, I look out for best quality, i can make out by the freshness, I will then negotiate my price”
“I am a wholesale buyer, our contracts are fixed, we just have to call them and they will send it to us”
“I clean this place daily, I get good incentive”
Signage solution may improve some functionality, it may reduce confusion in few or sometimes add. But it is a limited experience. Wayfinding is a far more sophisticated human activity.
All design solutions address and solve only part of problem. The whole remains.
Way finding is a complex human activity. We move responding to external and internal spaces, signs, symbols most often in automatic mode discovering newer spaces, signs and symbols.
