Yellowfıelds*

The purposes of this article is to introduce core concepts and approaches to the design of mapping for visitors, whether that’s a country park or inner city location. It’s informed by extensive experience gained across the disciplines of cartography, graphic design and wayfinding.

The ubiquitous nature of online mapping like Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, et al., often raises the question as to why a bespoke product is needed. A reasonable enough question, superficially, but why would you rely on a third party ‘one-size-fits-all’ product that does not represent your offer in any significant or helpful way—one that lacks detail, accuracy, information, richness or brand—focused on your visitor needs?

There are a few basic tenets that inform the design process for this type of application. Some of these may seem self-evident but are surprisingly often ignored or over-looked:

• Provide for all visitor types (age, mobility, etc.)
• Assume the visitor knows nothing about the site/destination
• Provide enough information to encourage exploration
• Provide enough information to inform decision-making
• Don’t under-estimate (or second guess) visitor needs.

The basic tenets above often get ignored or over-looked as often those commissioning maps simply ‘don’t know what they don’t know’. They also make misinformed assumptions about what the visitor needs, colouring the final deliverable with their own biases and misconceptions, including:

• Visitors cannot read maps
• Visitors cannot process much information
• Any map (for any other purpose) will do the job
• Viz-à-vis, all visitors have the mental capacity of an 8-year-old.

Unfortunately, these common issues are, at best, patronising to the visitor. Serving the lowest common denominator ends up serving nobody. This starting point also undermines the ability of a map to be an effective brand ambassador and promote any business objectives, let alone build a ‘sense of place’ and related strategic objectives.

“A well-designed and bespoke map more effectively encourages, informs and enhances a visitor experience and memory of place.”

Too often maps fall way short of fullfilling the needs of visitors—arguably, the majority. Moreover, destinations often have the false understanding that their maps are well-received based upon the fact they distribute thousands of copies. Giving something away for free doesn't equate to succesfully serving a purpose. My own anecdotal experience and observation is that visitors will, of course, take something provided for free, but will also quickly discover it does not help them. It then gets put away in a pocket and they spend time asking other visitors which way to x or y. It’s simply a problem that is not understood.

Wayfinding is core to the design approach as the principles involved inform the design choices that make a visitor map usuable and fit for purpose. Wayfinding is where the ‘platial’ meets information design.

Four key principles that underpin wayfinding are:

1. Semiotics

   – signs and symbols that provide the messages and narrative of space, both visual and non-visual, that form a collective image of a place, shaped and composed to form a unique identity.

2. Connectedness

   – all ‘touchpoints’, where visitors interact and interface with the environment, or a product or service, that will aid their navigation to, through and within the environment, including pre-journey research and planning.

3. visitor-centred

   – opportunities to receive bespoke or tailored information that will help the visitor to plan and enjoy their visit. Tailoring the content and delivery of information to match specific audience requirements will help to ensure the visitor experience is a positive one.

4. Placemaking

   – visitor perception, understanding and experience of place plays a vital role in communicating the area’s values and personality, enhanced by delivery of tailored and place-specific design solutions.

“There is an art of relationship just as there is an art of architecture. It’s purpose is to take all the elements that go to create the environment: buildings, trees, nature, water, traffic, advertisements and so on, and to weave them together in such a way that drama is released.”

— Gordon Cullen, Townscape

A successful wayfinding strategy will improve people’s perceptions, understanding and experience of place. As has become a bit of cliché, ‘it’s not just about signs’. Their must be a systemic and unified approach. There are further principles that are important to consider in this respect:

1. Whole Journey

   – For visitors, their journey doesn’t start at the entrance to the attraction, it includes the pre-journey research and planning. What experience, good and bad, do they have finding out how to get to your location, navigating their way in and what to expect on arrival.

2. Supportive

   – Effective wayfinding supports the visitor throughout their journey and experience, reduces anxiety and confusion, and should reaffirm the positive aspects of the experience.

3. Legibility

   – This applies to all touchpoints—digital, print, physical and environmental. Is the required message, action or direction clear and unequivocal? It’s about creating an experience that all visitors can read and understand, enabling them to make well-informed choices and decisions that enhance their experience.

4. Accessibility and Inclusivity

   – Somewhat self-explanatory, but so often ignored. Despite legislation, vey little is done to assist the experience of those less able-bodied. Even when destinations, for reasons beyond their control, cannot cater for all, everywhere, there is little done to explain this, describe environmental constraints, and provide options that promote inclusivity.

5. Progressive Disclosure

   – A wayfinding classic! Provide the right information at the right time; don’t over-burden the visitor or leave them wanting at any point on their journey. You need an effective information strategy and information hierarchy to achieve this.

6. Connected

   – Join the dots. Don’t leave gaps in your experience. Demonstrate the mental and physical links between features and experiences. Enable the visitor to navigate and plot their own journey and experience, or even those you have curated. Often this means ensuring that you understand the decision points (nodes) in your offer.

7. Consistency

   – This ties everything together, ensuring your message, narrative is consistently communicated across all media and at all touchpoints; points of experience and of interaction with brand. it ensures a unified and systemic approach.

Understanding the principles above provides a good foundation upon which to build effective mapping, as well as other ‘touchpoints’ around wayfinding and interpretation.

Now we can start building our understanding of the destination (or site), comprehending the functional structure, spatial legibility and permeability.

1. Function

   – Understand and define architectural and landscape spaces, and how these spaces are used.

2. Movement

   – Understand the types of mobility and movement options, natural or curated sequences around the site, obstacles to movement such as steps, inclines and ground materials, and other aspects of accessibility and walkability.

3. Attractors

   – What are the key features and offers, and where are they located, how they are defined and whether static or activity based and how they engage our emotions.

4. Legibility

   – Understand the configuration and layout of all features, services and functional areas (1–4 above), their locational relationships, accessibility and visibility (sightlines).

By this stage, we now have a level of understanding of the site, and a increased level of confidence, that can inform an effective direction in map design, both as an independent product and as part of a wider systemic approach to wayfinding and visitor engagement.

This is a constructed layer, or overlay, that we transpose on to the environment and experience and interact with it through a variety of channels—digital, print, physical and human—products as well as services. A map, as with other wayfinding tools, is developed to to help visitors to read, understand and experience the destination. It helps inform their decisions in moving around and exploring the destination, and thus learn and engage with the ‘offer’.

As previously mentioned, too often we assume that visitors are children and cannot understand complexity beyond the realms of ‘Janet and John’; used to be early years reading material in the UK! By revealing the complexities and richness of your site, you can fully reflect the offer and encourage a suitable level of engagement with your audience. Give your audience the opportunity to make a fully informed decision.

How do we construct an information architecture and strategy?

1. User Needs

   – These will be varied, but understand the types of visitors you have, their needs and questions and tailor information for all. Be inclusive and consider the whole journey.

2. Language and Nomenclature

   – Easily overlooked, but fix the formal language(s) required and adopt consistent and clear naming convention for all destinations and features, across all media channels.

3. Information Hierarchy

   – Define this by categorising the levels of significance and typology of information to internal destinations, features and amenities. The typographic and graphic styles of the map will be informed by this.

4. Inclusivity and Accessibility

   – Establish the information that impacts visitor movement around the site, and do so with reference to national and international organisations that provide guidance and standards for doing so.

A developed information architecture can then be aligned to a single or multiple range of communication strategies. For example, a map themed at a particular activity or group of visitors, such as nature, history, education or geo-caching. In an urban environment, you might also have maps focused on architecture or retail activities.

Steps 2–6 lead us to this point, a place where we can start formulating a design approach and graphic language for the map(s). Often, a design approach is presumed by the client, but not upon research of user needs, but on personal preference. Pre-determining the outcome lgenerally leads to failure. Research and process should be allowed to lead, letting the map ‘design itself’—form follows function.

A common scenario is the request to ‘come up with the same as they have’, or we ‘need a nice birds-eye view pictorial map’. These preconceptions misunderstand the nature and function of a map. I can understand the desire for a ‘pretty picture’ approach, but these types of map usually fall well short of providing useful and helpful wayfinding to visitors—style over function, unfortunately. A pictorial map can misrepresent distance, hide features, and is clearly locked (visually) to a single moment in time; that reflects the destination as it was. That can cause confusion out of season and over time as things change and grow.

When it comes to maps, there are advantages to maintaining design ‘norms’, especially in wayfinding. For example, using universally understood pictograms, and in respect to colour, employing blue for water features and green for open space features. These approaches increase legibility and avoid instances of misunderstanding and miscomprehension—important characteriistics for wayfinding (visitor) maps. Establishing a balance between this design approach and reflecting the brand can be a fine line to walk, but a path worth exploring.

Cartography is a very old profession, with a well developed theoretical and practical foundation. Despite this, it’s largely misunderstood. The prevailing perception of mapping is that provided by the likes of Google, and that is what all maps look like. In fact, this is only one kind of map and approach to mapping, albeit the most common and ubiquitous type.

Arguably, there are three core forms of mapping:

• Topographic

  – relating to the arrangement of the physical earth features of a geographic area (e.g., Google Maps and OpenStreetMap).

• Topological

  – concerned with relative spatial relationships rather than geographic accuracy (e.g., London Underground map).

• Thematic (Special Subject)

  – focused on a specific theme or topic, that may be based upon a topographic map (e.g., geology, weather or statistics).

There are overlaps between these forms, but they provide a useful basis to understand the scope of mapping, which is both complex and extensive.

Maps also have a ‘focus’; a conceptual basis or emphasis, that include:

• Geometric

  – concerned with a model of reality that is primarily for numerical measurement and analysis; mapping accuracy.

• Technological

  – perhaps most ubiquitous inasmuch as we are all familiar with maps as digital tools for storing displaying spatial data. The focus is also on innovation and efficiency.

• Communication

  – simply, emphasising the flow of information between cartographer and map reader; information transformation and map effectiveness through map use.

• Presentation

  – emphasises design as the central characteristic; the practice of cartography.

• Artistic

  – concerned with perception and the effect of visual qualities such as colour, pattern, orientation, exaggeration, etc; Jacques Bertin’s Semiology of Graphics (visual variables) if you like.

Cartographic practice often occupies one of the above areas, though may also span some, or all. It’s a complex subject and a multidisciplinary practice. There is both a sequential process to cartography, but also one of feedback loops and iteration. The cartographer starts by collecting and assembling relevant data for mapping. This data is then cleaned, manipulated and generalised to suit the map type and scale. Then, the map can be designed and constructed in a way that encourages and enables the map reader (user) to comprehend, interpret and respond to the map.

Fundamentally, whilst all maps are abstractions and simplifications of the real world, it's important to consider the above so you can frame the most suitable and responsive solution for the visitor.

These days, it’s as common to design maps for electronic dissemination as it is in print—more often—both. As such, the design approach needs to recognise this and allow for the opportunities and constraints of all mediums. In general, it’s simpler to repurpose products designed for the print pipeline (to digital) than it is vice versa.

It’s often advantageous to design for all mediums. The im implementation does not have to be complicated, as this example, that exists in both print and digital (online) forms. My experience covers mapping developed for wall murals, online interactivity, video, print, interpretation and signing, in a range of file formats.

From experience, both anecdotally and researched, maps are important tools for visitors—arguably—a necessity.

“A well-designed and bespoke map more effectively encourages, informs and enhances a visitor experience and memory of place.”

Apart from being hugely effective information tools, maps can also be a great brand ambassadors, a role that is nearly always misunderstood or simply not considered. Moreover, there is a depth and breadth of communication and narration that a map can achieve that few other media types can.

I hope the information provided here at least creates an environment for discussion and consideration of the role and need for maps. To discuss further, whether for a specific project, or just in general, get in touch.