Animation: Eli Rabinovich
GUIDELINES
City Orientation System
THE PAIN
The common navigation solutions today are maps (digital and physical) which require a user's constant attention.
Attention on the map is attention diverted from the surroundings. (=safety issues?)
The problem is enhanced in unfamiliar spaces: absorbed in the map, tourists miss out on much that there is to see and explore
AIM: Make getting from one place to another a present, aware, experience
Potential Solution Scale
PERSONAL
PUBLIC
SMART EAR PIECE
Frees user's visual attention to intake surroundings.
Uses human-friendly language based on clear visual cues
CUSTOMER VALIDATION
Users indicated they would not use voice only navigation as it will get them to their destination but they will be clueless about their whereabouts.
CONCLUSION
People are interested in ORIENTATION - not NAVIGATION.
How do we make the space more legible?
How do we communicate a space to new people?
LONDON TUBE MAP (Harry Beck, 1931)
Presents a case of information that creates a quick sense of "I kind of know where I am" - which is enough confidence for people to explore the tube system further.
The color coding makes it simple and primal for a user to remember a location and its relation to other locations
THE IMAGE OF THE CITY (Kevin Lynch, 1960)
Lynch presents the basic components humans use to make cognitive maps of their surrounding:
Paths
Nodes
Edges
Regions
Landmarks
THE IDEA
Highlight pedestrian routes to create a comprehensible new map of the city for pedestrians communicating: This is what you need to know
PROTOTYPING THE IDEA
Five main routes were marked in the city of Tel Aviv and tourists were asked to navigate to a location following a brief glance at a highlighted path map
SUCCESS
Tourists were observant of their surroundings
Tourists identified points of interest to explore further
Tourist quickly adjusted to seeing the markers without looking for them
Tourist were able to lead a coherent conversation while navigating
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
How does a tourist know where to walk if he is not on a marked route?
What happens if a tourist is unsure of his planned route
Could the markers direct to points of interest in the city?
IN-BETWEEN MARKERS
Route markers act as confirmation signs: "you have reached orange"
In-between markers, strewn across the city, every two blocks or so, indicate where you are in relation to the marked routes.
GUIDELINES AS A SERVICE
Expandng the different levels of support users could need when traveling due to personal preferance it was key to make GuideLines a service that you can join and get the level of support you need when navigating.
RESPONSIVE FLOOR SIGNS
Understanding the variety of users and the different levels of confidence in their own ability to navigate a new city, the markers are adjusted to display different levels of information. Basic you-are-here information at first, and more personalized direction information according to detection of signed users.