Orientation system design
Orientation system design translates the strategy into an environmental interface: architectural landmarks, terminology, information hierarchy, wayfinding graphics, maps, digital cues and rules for staff communication. Carriers are not the goal here but one component among several: a signal appears where the visitor has a question, delivered by whichever means is cheapest and most reliable at that point.
Key facts
- Basis of the design
- The map of decision points from the strategy — carriers derive from it
- What is designed
- All six components of the information layer, not wayfinding graphics alone
- The core document
- A signal placement plan tied to decision points, with a specification for every element
- Input
- An orientation strategy, or an equivalent description of the framework from the client
What the work includes
- A system of environmental signals mapped to decision points
- Spatial landmarks and rules for reinforcing them
- Information hierarchy and the glossary in application
- Design of every carrier type with typography and sizing
- Maps and diagrams oriented to the direction of travel
- Requirements for digital interfaces and cue scenarios
- Rules for staff communication at points of contact
- Placement plans, drawings and specifications for delivery
Which buildings this suits
- Wayfinding for clinics and medical centres
- Wayfinding for business centres and office spaces
- Wayfinding for universities and campuses
A signal appears where a question arises
Signal density is set by the map of decision points, not by corridor length and not by the signage budget. Where the visitor decides nothing, no message is needed: it adds noise and devalues its neighbours. Where a decision is made, a message is obligatory — and has to be confirmed further along the route, or the person will turn back to check.
For every point we define not only the content of the message but the means. Some decisions need no carrier at all: they are cheaper and more reliable to convey through light, a change in floor material, the angle of a desk, a sightline into the next zone or a rephrased line from a member of staff. A carrier is the most visible means, not always the best one.
What the design contains
The design has a semantic part and a material part. The semantic part describes how the building explains itself: which landmarks are reinforced, in what order information is delivered at junctions, what the zones are called at every point of contact, what the person sees at the moment of choice and what confirms the decision was right.
The material part turns this into deliverable elements: carrier types and their hierarchy, typography and minimum letter sizes for the reading distance, mounting heights, materials, installation plans, requirements for digital interfaces and wording for staff. It also includes the specifications a contractor fabricates to, with no room for improvisation.
- The signal system: what is communicated at each decision point and by which component
- Spatial landmarks and zoning, checked for legibility
- The glossary in application: signs, documents, website, queue system, staff speech
- Carrier typology: ceiling, wall, floor, door and freestanding
- Modular grid and typography for the reading distance
- Maps and diagrams oriented to the direction of travel, not to north
- Floor-by-floor placement plans and installation drawings
Digital interfaces are part of the same system
Orientation begins before the building: on the booking page, in the confirmation message, in a mobile map, in a queue notification. These texts form the initial model people arrive with — and if they diverge from what is written on site, the gap exists before the visitor has seen a single sign.
The design therefore sets requirements for the digital layer too: which names are used, at what moment the room and wing are communicated, what a person should know before leaving home. We do not build information systems, but we define the content of their messages and the glossary they use.
The design as a tool for the future
Buildings change: rooms move, departments are renamed, new services appear. With no rules, every change is layered on top of the system in someone else's style, and within three years orientation returns to where it started.
So the design fixes not only the state at handover but the rules: what a new signal looks like, who signs a change off, what to do with temporary notices, how to rename a zone without breaking its link to the digital channels.
Frequently asked questions
Can we commission the design without a strategy?
You can, if the framework already exists: scenarios, zoning, routes and decision points. Without them the design becomes a set of attractive carriers unattached to any real visitor question. If no such description exists, the strategy has to be done anyway — at least in abbreviated form inside the design.
Is the design tied to a particular fabrication contractor?
No. Specifications are written so that any competent contractor can produce the system. We can oversee production, but you are free to run your own tender — the documentation loses none of its applicability.
What if the building is going to be refurbished?
The design is better run alongside the refurbishment than after it. At design stage it is cheaper to allow for power feeds to illuminated carriers, recesses and fixings, to strengthen sightlines to key zones and to adjust the layout where a gap cannot be closed with signals at all.
Are accessibility requirements taken into account?
Yes — requirements for contrast, letter sizes, mounting heights and duplicated information are built into the design rather than added at the end. The exact set depends on the country and the type of building, so the applicable standards are fixed at the start.
We will design the wayfinding for your building
Send us the floor plans and a short description of the building — we will come back with an estimate of scope and timescales. You can start with the audit: it forms the first stage of the project, and is billed separately if you decide to take it from there yourself.