About Travel Wayfinding

Dr Paul Symonds

Google Scholar Profile

>> Read the PhD on Wayfinding <<

Wayfinding Clients have included:

  • Cardiff Bay Harbour Authority, Wales, UK
  • Cardiff Airport, Cardiff, UK
  • Birmingham International Airport, England.
  • Gatwick Airport, London, England
  • Plymouth City Council England

Qualifications

This site is written and managed by myself, Paul Symonds, and I have 20 plus years of travel experience, having traveled to over 40 countries and lived in the UK, USA, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Australia (for various reasons). My expertise also includes:

  • Completed a Ph.D. with Cardiff Metropolitan University, studying Wayfinding in the School of Health Sciences & Sport.
  • Masters in Computer-Based Information Systems.
  • BA Hons Degree in Tourism Management

Publications

Books

  • Airport Wayfinding Manual. Planned Publication Date – 1st September 2017. ISBN: 978-1-912011-00-1 (Book)

Conferences

  • RGS (Royal Geographic Society – Due to present on ‘Wayfinding on cruise Ships’ in August 2017)

Associations and Memberships

  • Member of ‘Tourism Society
Tourism Society

Independent Wayfinding Auditor

One of the key services I offer and which specialize in is to provide independent wayfinding audits, appraisals, and reporting for companies and locations worldwide.

Independent of any stakeholders, I provide audits that give you a chance to see what works and what does not work, in your location in terms of wayfinding.

What problems are users having to navigate through or to your location? What causes them stress and might make them desert your location in the future for a competitor.

You might be an airport, a university campus, a hospital, or a tourist attraction. I can help you to better understand the way in which users navigate and way find your site.

Need help with urban planning to city planning to guide people more effectively?

Service offers

Aims of this Site

The aim of this site is to provide a portal for all those interested in Wayfinding and navigation both at an academic level and for transportation and travel providers.

Improving the experience of travelers has a two-fold effect in that it is not only those traveling who benefit but also the stakeholders in the process.

Make the wayfinding process easier and more pleasurable for people and they then tend to have more time and inclination to spend during their trip.

Tourists also tend to return with a greater overall satisfaction level and this tends to reflect very positively on the holiday provider.

Media and Journalist Inquiries

I sometimes write for publications and newspaper columns on the subjects of wayfinding and navigation and other tourism matters. I am always open to travel writing invitations. Email: paul (at) travelwayfinding.com

Wayfinding Consultants and Consultancy

If you need consultation, you can contact me at any time via the contact page or email directly to: symonds (at) travelwayfinding.com

Why do you need a consultant at all?

If you are planning a new wayfinding system, then you might be wondering if you need the use of a consultant.

The simple answer is that, whether you are planning a new signs system for an airport terminal, bus station, or a local attraction, or changing the design of space to try and naturally guide visitors in specific directions, there are certain things that can easily be missed.

So many new wayfinding systems which are implemented fail for such basic reasons that it is worthwhile to seek consultancy from the start?

It is important to also remember that wayfinding covers many areas and is NOT just about signage.  

Bay trail report
Extensive bay trail report

In trying to bring together a well-designed space, in terms of how it can be navigated by users, problems occur because the range of individual experts, skills, and resources you need in developing a system, are very often not integrated correctly, and this is where a wayfinding consultant can help to fill in the gaps.

Trying to avoid mistakes in the overall design and implementation that can otherwise exist, is best planned in the early stages.

We can help advise and consult as part of the team representing your own specific interests.

Who we’ve worked with:

Birmingham Airport
Plymouth city council
Cardiff Airport wayfinding

The Benefits of using a Wayfinding Consultant

Wayfinding crosses many areas of expertise including customer service, architecture, planning, security etc.

Evaluating a location for wayfinding can thus be a challenging task.

Being over-familiar with the location you are based in and work-in, often means that it is difficult for you to step back and to identify many of the wayfinding problems that exist, from an independent point of view.

The difficulty you can face, if you hire architects, signage makers, or other service providers as you develop a wayfinding system, is that they are rarely experts in the overall system.

Wayfinding needs a ‘Systems Approach’, meaning that no one system can be truly designed without other parts of the extended system also being considered.

One good example is the wayfinding system in an airport.

Having an efficient way to help users navigate through an airport, as an example, is a fantastic start.

If travelers though are already frustrated, irritated, and stressed, even before they reach the terminal because the signage into the airport was poor and the parking areas were hard to find, then the system as a whole is failing.

We evaluate all parts of the system and focus not only on pure i) navigation but also ii) the user experience and iii) the financial needs of your business (i.e. to factor in consideration for steering behaviour.

Over time, we have developed a number of very detailed checklists, which we work with, and these include considerations for all user types including to evaluate, for example, tactile signage for blind and visually impaired users, wheelchair access, and so on.

We provide a full detailed report and we include photographic evidence in the reports, to communicate any issues. We are also in the process of developing software for ‘Wayfinding Management’.

This can help those interested, to monitor all signage checks (to manage the maintenance of signage) and help in documenting every piece of signage and wayfinding utilities in large spaces.

As part of the service, for large spaces which are being evaluated, we often include interviews with a cross-section of the users and staff.

The best feedback can often come from those who use the facilities on a regular basis.

Paul is the Director of Travelwayfinding.com and has been involved with tourism and marketing for over 12 years.

Paul is experienced in qualitative research methods and interviews and has a PhD in Wayfinding from Cardiff Metropolitan University and has extensive travel experience, having lived in the USA, Korea, Spain, Italy, and Australia.

The project may involve liaising with:

Sign-makers – whilst experts in their own area and often able to create some excellent signage, they tend, generally speaking, not to be experts in the use of space and in considering the wide number of issues that affect the end-users.

Architects – in designing for aesthetics and functionality, often account for a large percentage of failures in enabling a location to be efficient for navigational purposes. The very best and most efficient signage system cannot work in some locations, because a building is simply too badly designed. This was what happened in the UK with one particular shopping mall having to be closed down within a couple of years because users gave up on using it, because of confusion with the inside space. Even a brand new signage system was not enough to save the confusingly designed building which has now been knocked down.

Stakeholders – the stakeholder of the space which the system is designed for (yourself) also tend to need guidance. Being over-familiar with one’s own environment means that the obvious can sometimes be overlooked. Bringing in a consultant can mean the chance to gain valuable insight into the wayfinding needs which need to be factored into the design. In this area, as consultants, we tend also to recommend consulting and gathering feedback from the end-users.

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