Many designers say that creating an intuitive and globally usable signage system is a difficult task. The more you rely on symbols instead of text the more difficult it is to be universally comprehensible.
I once talked to a graphic designer who said that signs should be easy enough for a 7-year-old to understand. Otherwise over 50 % of people are in trouble. That is because when people have to make fast decisions they rely more on instinct and familiarity than their intelligence. Different cultural backgrounds and local practices can also affect people’s perception.
At airports people are often in a hurry. One would expect that all airports would use standardized signs and symbols. That is almost the case, but there is still a lot of variation in how they do that (see Sander Baumann’s photo collection).
Signs have authority. You may have heard about the psychological test where phone booths (yes, this is an old story) at a train station were labeled like toilets: for gentlemen and for ladies. When the test was made in France nobody cared about the labels. In Germany, however, men would queue for the “men’s booth” if it was occupied even if the women’s booth was vacant.
I’ve seldom seen good floor plans in hospitals, airports, or malls. The plans are often packed with visual information and small print. If you can find your destination on the plan you’ll have to remember how to get there while you’re walking – not always an easy task.
Digital displays and mobile devices will hopefully make navigation as easy inside large buildings as GPS has made it on the road.
