Findlay, C. & K. Southwell, 2004, You just follow the signs’: understanding visitor wayfinding problems in the countryside, in: OPENspace, ‘Open space, people space’, OPENspace, Edinburgh
- Author : Findlay, C. & K. Southwell
- Year : 2004
- English Title : You just follow the signs’: understanding visitor wayfinding problems in the countryside
- Published in Book : Open space, people space
- Abstract in English : This paper presents original research from a study that investigated how visitors find their way to forest recreation sites, from the initial decision to visit a site through to arriving at and using a site. The study particularly focused on signs as one of the key elements used by site managers to help visitors find their way. The research methodology comprised semi-structured interviews, observations of visitor behaviour, role play and a signage audit. The research indicated that most wayfinding difficulties could be attributed to one of four factors: informational consistency, route connectivity, entrance reassurance and arrival legibility. Findings were used to develop ‘VIEW’, a toolkit to identify the nature of visitor wayfinding problems and suggest potential solutions.
- Comments/Notes : KEYWORDS: wayfinding, signs, visitor information, countryside recreation, evaluation. [paper 5 p.]