In recent years, Tallaght has been implementing more cycling-friendly infrastructure. The next step for the Active Travel Investment department of the NTA was to understand the possible effects of cyclist wayfinding in Ireland.
The project aimed to develop a literature review of current wayfinding strategies in other countries, including the Netherlands, and analyze the literature for relevance in an Irish urban context.
The success of the literature review made the NTA retain Mobycon for the second phase of the project, a demonstration of cyclist wayfinding in Tallaght.
After developing a framework for cyclist wayfinding in an Irish context, we created a signage design framework, defined a wayfinding logic, and developed a framework for a GIS working document for wayfinding.
Our Approach to Wayfinding
The literature review analyzed current wayfinding practices and the best practices for recommendations in an Irish urban context (specifically Tallaght. The second phase consisted of developing the demonstration project.
• We aimed to address multiple overarching design questions that the NTA didn’t know to ask to help guide the best wayfinding strategy for Tallaght and Ireland.
• Through site visits and stakeholder workshops, we developed a framework for the wayfinding logic, the look and feel, defined the routes where wayfinding would be implemented, and defined the targeted user of this system.
• Through Dutch wayfinding design and international best practices, we visualized in situ renders of potential new signs in Tallaght, which proved to be very useful in convincing stakeholders of the benefits of the signage. GIS played a critical role in visualizing and understanding the system’s logic and was used as a tool for feedback from the NTA.
Wayfinding could be just what people in your community need to be able to take advantage of the cycling infrastructure available to them. Ask Angela van der Kloof for more information about this project, or contact us to discuss our other services.