I chose to do my analysis on Ricketts Glen State Park. I think it is a good example of the theory of wayfinding.
I used to live near there and spent many pleasurable hours hiking their trails with my kids. I used to complain to my children about the design of their signage long before I knew that I would be taking this class. I also got lost on more than one occasion.
When you enter the park there is a large information center that is relatively new and there was clearly a lot of research into its design. There are a lot of displays and a large map on the wall of the entire park and their trails.
Once you enter the park things are not so clear.
There are very few images to help convey information to someone from another country or even to a younger child.
The trails are blazed with small metal signs like the one in the picture. The problem is, they are few and far between and sometimes they fall off. This is where the getting lost comes into play.
Isn’t this helpful…
There aren’t a lot of signs explaining how dangerous some of the trails are. This is the only sign they have up and it has been up for years. There is a cutout from a newspaper article about a hiker’s dangerous fall. The article is yellow with age and very hard to read.
The purpose of information design is to educate and explain a message or directions in the clearest way possible using the least amount of narrative. I believe that Ricketts Glen State Park should upgrade their signage and add images and icons to help hikers to know where they are and where they are going. Clearly, interactive design doesn’t work in this natural setting, but I believe some more current signage could still be used and keep the rustic natural look that the park wants to maintain. I also think that there should be more information on the historical perspective of the park and the different trails. This is not a situation where color or font is going to make the difference that it does in other settings. What will make a difference in this situation is the proper signs in the right places.
3 comments:
Man I'm pretty good with maps and have a good sense of understanding with my surroundings but forget it when I am in a situation like a forest etc...
Even with the trail signs I would still get lost, unless something is telling me 'Hey Go this Way' then it's not a good idea for me to be walking about in the forest haha
Your points are valid. I looked at their web site and there is a trail map with a key for difficulty level, but you cannot locate the trails on the map. This is where color-coding would help, not just for difficulty level, but for signs posted theroughout the park. Red would be difficult trails and danger. Yellow, caution and a medium difficulty level. Green is easy trail and minimal danger. This was a unique idea for an evaluation - thanks!
Catherine Bozzone
I have to agree with you. I was there two years ago my husband and I went on vacation. We felt the same with the signs. My husband and I do alot of hiking and one thing he always taught me was the triangle markers. He taught me to always watch for them to know my direction and if I am on the trail, That was the first thing he said when we got there, these markers are terrible and where are they all.
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