Leading the reading: wayfinding in document design
‘Wayfinding refers to information systems that guide people through a physical environment and enhance their understanding and experience of the space.’
Wayfinding is especially important in complex built environments such as airports, hospitals and universities. While you’ve probably noticed the more obvious examples of wayfinding – maps and signs – you may have been gently guided by more subtle design elements without even realising.
These can include lighting, colour-coding, visual cues and physical layout. When wayfinding is implemented effectively, people are able to find what they’re seeking easily and intuitively, without pausing, doubling back or second-guessing.
The same principles apply to creating good documents and web pages.
Document wayfinding
Consistently styled hierarchical heading levels let readers know the importance of each section and how it relates to the rest of the information.
Break-out boxes tell a reader that the information is supplementary to the main point (such as a case study or an expanded explanation of a term used in the document body).
Website elements like breadcrumbs, a logically applied colour palette and clear, specific labels tell a user exactly where they are and where to go next. ‘Camping equipment’ is a better label than ‘Our products’, for example, while ‘Older’ and ‘Newer’ make blog navigation less confusing than ‘Forward’ and ‘Back’.
User-centred design
Eye-tracking studies have shown that users scan new pages in an F shape, primarily focusing on information in the top-left corner, then scanning across and down from there to see if the information is relevant to them.
Effectively designed pages will work with readers’ natural visual flow, rather than trying to force it. For example, users expect to find menus across the top or down the left-hand side of a website: placing them anywhere else throws up a roadblock. Other studies show that readers perceive items at the beginning and end of a list as more important than items in the middle, so you should structure your lists accordingly.
A designer implementing wayfinding systems will try to see things from a visitor’s perspective, asking themselves: ‘How would this look if I’d never been here before, I was coming from this direction, and I was in a hurry?’
Document and website creators should do the same. ‘How would this read if I was unfamiliar with the topic, coming from this perspective, and I wanted the information as quickly as possible?’
In airports and hospitals, unclear wayfinding adds to the stress load of already harried customers. On a website, people will just leave.
