Digital Wayfinding: Embracing the Paradigm Shift

By Fred Inklaar, Airport and Mobility Expert

As we travel the world, flying from one destination to another and maneuvering familiar and unfamiliar airports, we encounter more and more airports that are using dynamic media as wayfinding elements. This is not a recent development; it started way back with the use of CRT monitors to display flight information, and it accelerated about a decade ago when large TFT displays became widely available and affordable.

The utilization of dynamic media really took off when LED screens became good enough to render legible texts – at prices that are competitive with static signage. Not being constrained to a fixed 16:9 ratio is a huge boon for wayfinding, where the content should direct the size and proportion of hardware and not the other way around.

Transitioning from static signage to dynamic media implies more than simply transferring the layouts of all signs to screens. That would be as silly as moving a combustion engine to the place where the horse used to be for a cart.

The change from a vinyl canvas to a digital canvas is a significant paradigm shift with implications for the way you interface with your customers, the way you have to design, and the way you have to plan and manage your signage.

Long Live Static Signage

Let me start by reminding you what traditional static wayfinding is all about. It starts with an environment: a terminal, a parking garage, or a set of roads. Part of wayfinding is already embedded in how this environment is laid out and what it looks like- the natural wayfinding. But no matter how well executed that natural wayfinding is, signage will be added to the built environment, for without signage, the passengers will not be able to find their gates. Natural wayfinding will help passengers understand the environment, but it lacks the unambiguous precision that signage possesses.

Signage usually has a long lifespan. Graphics may start fading when a sign is exposed to the elements, lighting elements of illuminated signs may need replacement after a few years, or – most commonly – a new layout may be required because routes and destinations will change. When modifications or repairs are necessary, the sign box can be retrofitted easily. When additional signage is needed, it can be manufactured in a way that is identical to the existing signage. This applies even to sign models that are already decades old. In urgent situations, signs can even be adapted nearly instantaneously by a handyman with access to a print shop.?

While these are all positive qualities, static signage has one existential fault: its static nature. Fixed both in space and time, with a message that is bound to be unidirectional, a static sign will broadcast its message to all passengers passing by until the very end—sign removal.

Dynamic Media: the Paradigm Shift

So, how different can signage on dynamic media be when these information carriers are still placed inside an environment, such as the terminal, the parking garage, or along the roads??

The genius lies in the fact that dynamic signage is not just an addition to the physical structure of the building; rather, it is an addition to the digital interface the passenger has with the airport. This may sound far-fetched, but if we look at the passengers' feedback, it turns out to be true. For as soon as you move a layout to dynamic media the expectations and demands of passengers will change. Information on a dynamic display must be specific to the place, specific to the time, specific to the status of the environment, and preferably specific for the passenger reading it as well. The display is tied in with the other digital elements of the passenger’s journey: booking through the airline’s website, in-car navigation to the airport, digital boarding cards, and digital entertainment. Signage will no longer be a separate category; it will need to work in line with all the other digital information channels the passenger uses. As an example, if the airport's website has a page showing security waiting times rounded to 5 minutes, then those waiting times should be available on dynamic signage in front of the actual security lines – with identical precision.

Installation and management

Ordering, manufacturing, and installation differ greatly for dynamic media. Signs are built up from building block modules which can be freely assembled to reach the dimensions needed, but the modules themselves still have a fixed size. Specific sizes may be discontinued far earlier than the signage's lifespan, making extending or replacing existing signage impossible. Manufacturers should give adequate guarantees on the possibility of back-ordering hardware.?

And then there's software. The content on these signs is delivered to the screen by a complex installation consisting of content management software and media players. The CMS needs to be set up with rules for layout and behavior and needs to be fed with data and content to display. Despite recent advancements in artificial intelligence, this still means human input and human oversight, which means that staff must be allocated or that external consultants must be hired. And with software comes the need for cybersecurity. It is one thing to have a sign defaced by a bored teenager and a vinyl sticker of its favorite band, but yet another to have the whole wayfinding system come crashing down because of a denial-of-service attack.?

Harnessing the Power of Dynamic Wayfinding

The opportunities that dynamic media bring outweigh the downsides and risks mentioned before. Content updates are instant, reflecting the state of flights and services at the airport. Different directions can be signed for night and day routes, for different security needs, for visa needs, for peak versus low traffic flows, or for all of the above. These changes do not have to be pre-scheduled or executed on-site; they can be set in motion by an operator in a remote control room. Dynamic signage is able to display information which is dynamic by nature, such as waiting times, lounge occupancy, current fare, and travel times of ride-hailing services. And dynamic media can easily tie in to the season or special events at the airport by changing colors or pictograms over time, which elevates not only the customer experience but also the brand experience.

Skills, Rules, and Considerations

Designing wayfinding for dynamic media requires additional skills and additional rules. Content will have to be able to adapt to different screen sizes and dimensions, preferably without human intervention. New yet unknown messages need to be conveyed such as ‘this screen is dynamic and may show different content in 60 seconds’ or ‘this part of the screen has just been updated – pay attention’. You want to convey this information in a way that fits the rest of your design and in a way that does not disturb the passenger. Passengers do not want to be distracted from the content they are looking for by perpetually bouncing icons placed just next to it, nor will they appreciate wild screen transitions exacerbating their existing pre-flight anxiety. Mijksenaar has recently updated the Wayfinding Manual for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey with specific rules for dynamic media to address these issues.

Dynamic first approach

When an entirely new ‘green field’ wayfinding system is designed, it should be set up ‘dynamic first’, just as websites are designed ‘mobile first’. Mijksenaar is following this approach at Napoli Airport, where, for instance, the colors selected for the wayfinding system can all be easily and consistently reproduced within the sRGB color space of the displays used inside the terminal.

Temporal planning

Dynamic media will also add a temporal aspect to the planning of media. To offset the cost of these large LED screens, dual use of these screens for wayfinding and commercial activities or sense-of-place applications is often proposed. This can be done, but just as with spatial zoning where a neutral 3D buffer zone is needed between different kinds of media there must be a clear separation in time between these different modes of operation. Passengers will not find their departure gate and time when a FID continuously cycles between departure information and the commercial videos of a credit card company.

User testing

An advantage when designing for dynamic media is the possibility of user testing. Just like mobile apps are continuously being adjusted and improved based upon user feedback, wayfinding design and terminology can be tested and adjusted too. We strongly recommend to start off with smaller proof-of-concepts when migrating wayfinding onto dynamic media. This approach allows for short design development cycles in which a lot can be learned and fed back into the overall design.

Elevating the service level

There are many opportunities when designing a wayfinding system for dynamic media. Wayfinding can connect with passengers, displaying information geared specifically to their flight, such as additional languages based on their country of departure. It can also react to passengers, directing them to a different restroom when a sensor forecasts queuing at the restroom nearby. Preempting the passengers’ needs and providing them with useful personalized information on their flights and processes will elevate the service level of the airport.?

Engaging with the passenger

Dynamic wayfinding is better suited to reinforce the airport brand experience than static wayfinding because it can vary the number of brand elements based on the available space and time. Dynamic wayfinding can contribute to the sense-of-place of an airport in new and innovative ways. For instance, the color and layout of the wayfinding can reflect the current day and night cycles – arriving passengers often ask for the local time as soon as they leave the plane – or the wayfinding can display elements of local seasonal phenomena such as the blossoming of cherry trees, or local events. It can add a decisively fun and engaging layer to the purely transactional functions of finding your way.

And who doesn't want to be engaged when traveling?