Falls Creek is a ski-in, ski-out resort in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. Historically, the focus of activity has been winter sports, but the resort has now been turned into a four season, vibrant and sustainable village.

At the end of 2006, Falls Creek Resort Management (FCRM) send out a RFT to ‘Replace Wayfinding Signage’ in the winter sport village of Falls Creek, in Victoria, Australia.

This RFT described their objective as:

This was further described as:

• Assist users in navigating by: informing, directing and identifying
• Protect the safety of the public
• Visually enhance the environment
• Promote entities, events and functions
• Strongly communicate Falls Creek’s unique character
• Improve the functionality, versatility and durability of the sign system

Although the objectives created enough space to develop a good wayshowing/wayfinding system, it was followed by a description of existing signs, their quantities and which of these needed to be replaced with new hardware; treating the project as a signage exercise, not as a wayfinding one.

In preparation of our tender response, ID/Lab did a preliminary survey of the village. It was clear that the existing signage hardware – ranging from the VIC-Roads traffic signs to directional signage in the village and from entry statements to promotional business signage- was a collection of individually designed and implemented structures. The directional signage confused more than it informed, and there was no system to what information was provided where and how.

Unlike the other five tender submitters, we did not put forward any design options. Any concepts at this stage would be ‘pretty pictures’ only. It is impossible to provide meaningful design concepts, without having in-depth knowledge about the organisation’s exact requirements and associated performance specifications.

ID/Lab presented a business case showing the operational and economical benefits of a holistically developed wayfinding system. The Resort Management understood that, while the up-front time and cost involved in researching and producing such a system may be higher, the end result would provide better results and possible significant long term savings – using less signage hardware, better designed to utilise common components, withstand abuse and minimise maintenance. We got the order……

Strategy Development

The first step in the development of the strategy was to emerge ourselves into the environment. We wanted to feel the village, understand how it operated, both in summer and ‘under snow’. Next step was to extract information from the main stakeholders; what had their experience been, what business objectives did they have, and how did they see the village work best. This was done through interviews, with groups ranging from resort staff, lift operators, bus drivers, tourist information, restaurant and hotel owners, through to accommodation providers, urban planners, architects, park rangers, emergency services, Chamber of Commerce, ski, walking and mountain bike clubs.

We analysed a number of wayfinding tasks, where we set people a certain destination, and observed what actions they took to reach that destination. Although relatively labour intensive, it was seen as an integral component of the strategy development. One of the outcomes was understanding the difference in navigating the steep, mountain roads, compared with a normal urban environment. Roads in Falls Creek zig-zag to climb up the mountain, which means that often you have to go east, to reach a destination west of you. This threw out people’s reliance on their cognitive mapping ability, and showed that the system even needed to direct to well known destinations.

Recommendations

The results of the strategy development were presented to and accepted by the FCRM board. The most important recommendations were:

• Build two ’short-cut’ walk ways, to make pedestrian journeys shorter
• Changes to the winter parking and carpark-to-accommodation transport system
• Clearer identification of shuttle stops
• Better visibility of signage during winter
• Create information hub for summer visitors
• Changes to main entry road to slow down traffic
• Create connection with activities that start in, but leave the village (e.g. walking and x-country ski trails)
• Create consistency in resort branding expressions
• Promote the use of one, specially designed, map
• Develop a signage hardware system that can be maintained by resort staff

A number of the recommendations were added to the resort’s masterplan, and others were further developed by us.

Implementation

After developing the strategy, ID/Lab created a wayfinding toolkit. This toolkit set out what information needed to be displayed where, and how this information could best be displayed. It included gateway, building, trail-head, statutory, traffic, directional, interpretive, promotional, retail and advertising signage.

Buro North was engaged to design the signage hardware, based on our performance specification that described materials, longevity, visibility, legibility and usability requirements.

Because of budget restraints and seasonal demands, the actual implementation of the signage hardware only began after the 2009 ski season. We are looking forward to seeing all the recommendations being implemented, over the next couple of years, as part of the continuing work on creating a world class –and legible– four season resort.

Only a couple of more days and it is Christmas. 2009 is at its end and 2010 is pushing to start. And so are we!

All of us at ID/Lab, wish you a great X-Mas and a Prosperous New Year. We hope you will visit our blog again in 2010!

We all know that Melbourne needs rapid trams, trains and buses, which are interconnected, user friendly and safe, and that we need a network of safe bike paths and walkways that connect to public transport, workplaces, shopping and recreational areas.

In Victoria, Vic Roads is upgrading its Principal Bicycle Network, however the problem is that the links between the networks are often missing and local bike routes suddenly stop at the council border. The Victorian Cycling Strategy and the bicycle strategies of local councils are trying to address this.

Hopefully Robert Doyle, the Mayor of Melbourne will soon be able to follow what the Mayor of London has announced:

£155m for local transport improvements including £1.49m to “support” Cycle Superhighways.

The funding is designed to improve local town centres and public spaces, create more shared space and simplify street-scapes and improving cycling and walking facilities and making them safer to do so. At the same time cutting red tape to make it all happen.

It’s a great initiative especially the focus on cycling as research has shown that when you are able to make a city move by bicycle, it will be a more humane and equal city. While cars separate people, bicycles can bring us together and build up a much more integrated and friendly society.

ID/Lab is working on an exciting initiative to assist councils making the urban environment more attractive to be in – watch this space!!

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Photo: Mental Floss Blog

We came across this blog containing mistranslated signs from around the world. Have a look and have a laugh.

Actually last year we did some research testing into the meaning of pictograms for people with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). We needed to find out which pictogram design would work best, or at all. What we discovered was, what might be obvious and straight forward for one person isn’t always that clear for someone else from a different cultural background.

One participant thought below pictogram represented a sailing boat in Sydney Harbour, and not the letterbox it is supposed to depict:

Another participant thought this represented a birthday cake, not a reception area:

The truth is, there’s not really a right or wrong answer: Our research reveals that most pictograms should be supported with text, in plain English, as understanding particularly symbolic pictograms is a learned behaviour.(see below)

Below are ID/Lab’s research conclusions:

In order to provide a clear analysis of the pictogram test results it is necessary to start with a definition of terms. There are two distinct types of pictogram, iconic and symbolic.

Icons are drawn as a graphic representation of the subject matter, and need to be read and understood in order to derive meaning (for example the lift icon). Theoretically, previous exposure to the pictogram is not required for comprehension, but the action it depicts needs to be known.

Symbols on the other hand do not attempt to graphically represent the subject matter, but must be learnt. They are recognised in the same way we recognise the characters in an alphabet (for example the information ‘i” or the man or woman used for the toilet sign).

During the pictogram testing it became clear that many of the test subjects struggled to understand what were thought to be relatively simple ‘iconic’ images. Conversely, the images with the highest levels of comprehension were those based on ISO images commonly used in a range of public environments, regardless of the level of ‘symbolic’ abstraction in their rendering.

The conclusion drawn from this observation is that the majority of people lack the visual literacy to interpret pictograms based on icons accurately, and that symbolic pictograms provide a much higher level of comprehension.

What is also apparent is that there will always be those that are unable to understand both language and pictograms however simple they may seem. As a result, the greatest level of comprehension will be achieved by ensuring that pictograms are always supported with text, in simple English, at the appropriate size and contrast.

PS: With a number of staff in our office for whom English is a second language, we know from experience that translating, spelling and comprehension of words can be challenging at times……..

Source: Clients from hell

It’s Friday, almost another week gone. How was yours? As good as theirs?

Clients from hell.

Source: Health Facilities Management

digital signage-photo courtesy of Omnivex

The potential of digital signage systems is they could streamline processes, assist with decision making and ultimately influence behaviour among viewers. However many people still see digital signage as a platform to post general messages to a broad audience. It’s usually limited to either wayfinding applications or donor appreciation walls. By approaching digital signage as a communications tool, the potential becomes much greater and focus will change to internal staff, patients and their interaction.

Placing large screens at strategic locations in eg a hospital provides a quick reference to staff on scheduled procedures and current stage, but also allows for new procedures to be implemented immediately, eg dealing with the SARS threat at the time. It allows for communicating pertinent information to patients upon their arrival in hospital, thus streamlining procedures.

There is no lack of data in most organisations, the challenge is making the information actionable, by combining digital signage with an effective information procurement system. This should ultimately reduce operating costs and improve the quality of the service delivered.

What do you think? Could digital signage align staff and assist visitors/patients?

Read More

This video features a day in the life of a woman working in the London’s Square Mile solely through infographics; this includes labelled close-ups of everyday objects, product lifecycles, schematic diagrams, charts, and is generally illustrated in a simple isometric visual style. Directed by the French motion graphics studio H5.

This is the animated story of one man’s epic journey, created entirely from AIGA-standard travel icons. In other words, an airport story told in the language of airport infographics. The short film Airport was made by Iain Anderson and first  shown in Oz Digital Shorts in the Sydney Film Festival 2005.

Very cleverly done. If I was a pictogram, I would want to go travelling!

Maps by AIG London for Legible Bristol

By Michel Verheem

According to urban management expert Professor Nicolas Low, Melbourne could turn into a transport chaos by 2030 if the government doesn’t change its planning tactics. Just building more motorways is not the answer.

“Melbourne needs an integrated transport plan, with rapid trams to shopping centres, pedestrian shopping streets, buses timed to meet trains, frequent and reliable modern trains with simple timetables, a network of quality bike paths connecting with rail stations. That’s the future the government wants and the public wants”.

At ID/Lab we strongly believe in sustainable transport. None of the staff here drives to work; we either cycle, train or tram.  One of the keys to better sustainable transport is providing people with better, and more local information. How can we get people to understand that they can easily walk to the shops, or that there is a nice park with BBQ facilities just a few streets down.

In the UK, the Legible City concept is very popular: Legible Cities is about improving and integrating the user interface between a city’s urban structure (its composing elements – land use, urban fabric, movement systems, streets and spaces) and its overlaying marketing, wayfinding and information systems. A key lesson from the places where the concept has been implemented is that cities will be more competitive and successful if the overlaying systems represent or mirror an accurate image and ‘mental map’ of the city, and if the information products and services are designed to reinforce the identity of the city itself.

The common thread to each of the projects is that they are ‘people’ and ‘place’ centred, considering the totality of the user experience at the outset, enabling the development of locally relevant and distinctive projects, and providing information about one’s local and adjoining communities in such a way that people understand that walking, cycling or public transport use is possible and rewarding. Possible outcomes are wayfinding signage, websites, printed information, hand-held applications, etcetera.

It seems to us that in (greater) Melbourne –as in all of the larger metropolitan centres– all of this is approached in a rather ‘ad-hoc’ manner, with individual councils developing systems ‘in splendid isolation’. A point in case is the discrepancy between the information (signage) that is being used in the Melbourne CBD and in the Docklands – there is no connection between the two (in fact, there seems to be little connection between the City and the Docklands overall……).

We are working with a number of organisations to look at the opportunity to develop similar paradigms here in Australia – and we can’t wait to implement them!