On-Site Wayfinding Systems

There are several ways to provide interactive wayfinding to your target group (patients, members, employees, business contacts, etc).

Each of them have their own value and do not replace each other necessarily. While you can opt for one option only, for some situations it seems better to offer a combination.

On-Site:

Courtesy of www.kiosk.com

1) A wayfinding system offered on a freestanding touchscreen Kiosk or wall mounted touchscreen LCD (=public access point), strategically placed throughout the facility or when it is a smaller facility, only at the entrance(s).

Visitors immediately have the opportunity to locate where they are and where their destination is, when they enter the building. Depending on how much traffic you have on a daily basis, more public access points may need to be added at the entrance.

All directions are delivered up-front (batch).

Offers standard Kiosk to department directions. Can also feature department to department directions.

• If it is a large building with a lot of floors (vertical orientation), it is to recommend to place an additional kiosk at each elevator exit of each floor.
• If it is a larger -horizontally oriented- building, additional public access points at intersections might be needed.

Provided the first impression of the wayfinding system is friendly and inviting and the navigation is straight forward and to-the-point, the majority of your visitors (old and young) will use it. See introduction.

Additional public access points can be placed outside your building as well. For example, a wall mounted LCD touchscreen in your parking garage. This would work well for an Airport where it is important where you enter the terminal. Informing the visitor upfront not only prevents frustration on their part but also works beneficial for the logistic system you have in place. Just keep in mind that outdoor equipment is more expensive then indoor systems (outdoor=weather proof).

Printing: Offering the user to print the directions after he generated them, is a great idea. If you have a large facility, offering the printing of directions takes the number of normally needed kiosks down, when printing is not offered.

Mobile Wayfinding

2) Interactive indoor wayfinding on a Smartphone is a great addition for the visitors who have one. (You also show immediately how modern and forward thinking your company is.)

Mobile wayfinding can be offered in 2 ways:
1) All directions at once upfront (Batch based) or
2) Turn-by-Turn.

Keep in mind, if you represent a hospital and you want a wayfinding solution for the majority of your visitors, a lot of the elderly don’t have a Smartphone yet or if they do, are still in the process of getting to know them. In that situation, offering wayfinding on the Mobile is great in addition to an On-Site touchscreen kiosk.

Mobile wayfinding offers standard department-to-department directions.

The smartphone needs to be able to connect to the internet in your building, as all data is to be retrieved from a server connected to the internet. Building a separate intranet within the building is also an option.

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