STATION MODERNISATION AND EQUIPMENT
STATION MODERNISATION AND EQUIPMENT
Should all wayfi nding signage be the same?
Gavin McMurray, a director at the UK’s largest wayfi nding signage manufacturer, Merson Signs, asks whether railway and airport signage should look uniform, or individualised.
W
hen trying to fi nd our way around one of the UK’s major airports, most of
us are immediately drawn to the instantly recognisable large yellow signs with black type. Simple, clear and legible, they have become a well-known and widely understood source of information in the majority of the UK’s major airports. They are arguably the strongest and most instantly recognisable element of the BAA ‘brand’, BAA being the company that has owned and managed the majority of our major airports for over 40 years.
With BAA selling a number of their airports over recent years (due to competition commission rulings), signifi cant changes are underway. The new owners of Gatwick Airport have already adopted a completely new look for their wayfi nding signs. Understandably they want to establish a unique look, feel and passenger experience to differentiate themselves from the competition. Soon UK airports may be more reminiscent of our rail stations where wayfi nding signage is often quite different from station to station depending on the TOC in charge.
The question is – does this actually matter? Whether it’s in our airports or rail stations, should all wayfi nding signage be the same? Or are the effects of individual style and branding minimal enough to avoid adversely affecting their effectiveness and, in turn, the passenger experience?
To answer this we fi rst need to look at the key steps involved in developing and delivering an effective, fully inclusive wayfi nding strategy.
Step 1 – Identify the key destinations you need to direct customers to. It might seem counter- intuitive to limit the number of destinations you sign people to but wayfi nding can quickly become ineffective when you try to give the user too much information. Keep it focussed.
Step 2 – Decide on the most effective scale and positioning of signs throughout the terminal or station. Getting this right relies on understanding when and where people need specifi c information.
Step 3 – Apply some science and experience to ensure the signs and messages they display are visible and legible from an appropriate distance.
Step 4 – Assess the station or terminal environment to ensure that all wayfi nding signs have the necessary contrast or standout. This is particularly important in visually ‘busy’ environments where advertising, retail offerings and signage are all vying for the customers’ attention.
It is this last step where creating a consistent look for signage for the rail or aviation environment can make a real difference. From a wayfi nding purist’s point-of-view it’s clear to see that maintaining a consistent style for all
signage in locations with a common function would be the most effective solution. Customers would intuitively know what to look for when trying to navigate their way around a station or terminal environment and would have an in-built understanding of how that wayfi nding system works. We could even go as far to suggest that all major transport hubs whether it be bus, rail, subway or airport terminals should have one consistent wayfi nding system. Wouldn’t that be an extremely effective way to truly join up customer journeys?
So, the answer to this question may clearly be a resounding yes but wayfi nding is rarely the only element we need to consider. It’s not only understandable but also a commercially sound argument that individual TOCs or airport operators should overlay their own branding and look and feel onto wayfi nding signage. They want to create an enhanced experience that customers can differentiate from other travel hubs and relate that positive experience back to the brand in question.
So the answer then is a qualifi ed ‘no’ – all wayfi nding signage should not be the same. Providing our rail and airport operators develop their own wayfi nding look and feel with due consideration to sound wayfi nding principles, we can be confi dent of delivering consistently positive passenger experiences across our partner networks.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
railsignage.com
64 | rail technology magazine Oct/Nov 12
rail technology magazine Oct/Nov 12 | 64
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