Wayfinding

Improper wayfinding in public places is often confusing and frustrating. For an area which is frequently being visited by new people, the campus of the University of Kansas lacks a few basic directional tools in order to help people navigate.

One place on campus frequented by members of our group Watson Library. For someone who is unfamiliar with the layout of the library, wayfinding can be tricky. One particular area of Watson which is notorious for its signage, or lack thereof, are the stacks. 

Inside the stacks wayfinding becomes painful because of the hidden, missing, or faded signage that once indicated location and direction. Small posted paper signs constitute the majority of the wayfinding tools found within the stacks. These are pitiful attempts at creating orienting wayfinding devices. This is why our group found it necessary to select this area as our focus.
 
Although the stacks lacked many basic wayfinding faculties,we needed to focus our energies on a specific area within the stacks. A curiousity about the stacks which is often confusing is that they are split level stacks. This means there are two stacks per floor, and is the reason why the destination our signage is indicating to, 1 and 1 1/2 East, is denotated accordingly.