Wayfinding: People, Signs, and Architecture

The authors define wayfinding as "the strategies that people use to find their way in familiar or new settings, based on their perceptual and cognitive abilities and habits," and they cite the practical and commercial advantages gained by improving wayfinding facilities, since people often decide where to shop by the level of difficulty it takes to get there. They demonstrate that wayfinding, to be effective, must take into account architectural, graphic, aural, and tactile components, and they explain how these elements can be used separately and together to ensure wayfinding success. Drawing and diagrams amplify and clarify the commentary throughout. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

"In the past few years, a body of knowledge about how people find their way around in buildings has accumulated, appearing in journals and presented at conferences; but until now it has been diffuse. Paul Arthur and Romedi Passini's WAYFINDING have pulled together most of this knowledge, and it appears within the covers none too soon." -- Design Book Review, 1992