VISITOR EXPERIENCE WAYSHOWING The unique experiences of traveling byways and accessing their intrinsic qualities are not possible unless travelers are successful at wayfinding. For the majority of byway travelers, the byway experience simply would not exist without guidance and consistent communication. Successful wayfinding is at the heart of the byway experience. However, with few exceptions, byways have significant room for improving how they assist travelers in being successful at finding their ways on America’s best roads. Byway providers have choices about what they do to assist travelers. An initiative by the America’s Byways® Resource Center to assist byway providers. Concepts, debate, examples, tools and questions are always welcome. How do we find the byway? Where does the byway start and end? Where are the special byway places? Where are we now? How do we get back home? How do we find the byway? Where does the byway start and end? Where are the special byway places? Where are we now? How do we get back home? PHOTO: What happens if these questions don’t get answered on your byway? PHOTO: a row of signs that read: THIS WAY THAT WAY NOWHERE ANYWHERE HOME AWAY YOUR LOST PHOTO: two signs reading, AWAY YOUR LOST What is it like to be lost? What does it cost be lost? Developing Effective Wayshowing for Byways An Initiative to Assist Byway Providers Help Travelers Find their Way Along America’s Best Roads • Response to needs indicated in the byway community of practice • Fundamental to continued quality improvement for America’s Byways® • Outgrowth of the America’s Byways® Resource Center’s Mission • Leads to improved visitor service Wayfinding. Wayshowing. Who does what? Wayfinding is what byway travelers do Seeing Reading Hearing Learning Wayshowing is what byway providers do Drawing Writing Speaking Teaching Wayfinding. Wayshowing. Who does what? Wayfinding is the mental process, performed by byway travelers, that turns a traveler’s goal into decisions, actions, and behaviors. Wayfinding is continuous problem solving under uncertainty. Wayfinding is what byway travelers do Seeing Reading Hearing Learning Wayshowing is what byway providers do Drawing Writing Speaking Teaching Wayshowing is the communication of information, intentionally undertaken by byway providers, to aid travelers in setting desired goals, making decisions, and taking appropriate actions. For travel to be successful, travelers must be able to: 1. Identify origin and destination, 2. Determine turn angles, 3. Identify segment links and directions of movement, 4. Recognize on-route and distant landmarks, and 5. Mentally embed or visualize the route in a larger reference frame: a cognitive map. Source: Dr. Reginald G. Golledge, Professor of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara To successfully experience any byway, travelers need: --To know where the byway begins and ends, when they are accessing a byway, and when they are leaving a byway environment; --To create, refresh and expand their mental maps of a byway corridor and to establish and strengthen their orientation to the byway and the part of the world that surrounds that byway; --A reliable and easily recognizable sequence of visual cues to follow when traveling along a byway; and --To locate and safely travel to planned stops and special places to fulfill their desired byway experience. Five Stages of a Wayfinding Experience for Byway Travelers PRE-VISIT Choose - Select Plan - Prepare VISIT Travel - Visit POST-VISIT Recall - Reflect Repeat - Share FIGURE: Media Relevancy PRE-VISIT: Choose - Select HIGH MEDIA RELEVANCY: Print Brochure Web Site Advertisements LOW MEDIA RELEVANCY: Guidance Signs Merchandise PRE-VISIT: Plan - Prepare HIGH MEDIA RELEVANCY: Print Brochure Web Site MEDIUM MEDIA RELEVANCY: Wayside Interpretive Exhibits Merchandise LOW MEDIA RELEVANCY: Advertisements Guidance Signs VISIT: Travel - Visit HIGH MEDIA RELEVANCY: Guidance Signs Wayside Interpretive Exhibits MEDIUM MEDIA RELEVANCY: Print Brochure Merchandise LOW MEDIA RELEVANCY: Web Site POST-VISIT: Recall - Reflect MEDIUM MEDIA RELEVANCY: Web Site Guidance Signs Wayside Interpretive Exhibits Merchandise LOW MEDIA RELEVANCY: Print Brochure Advertisements POST-VISIT: Repeat - Share MEDIUM MEDIA RELEVANCY: Print Brochure Web Site Guidance Signs Merchandise The Byway Guidance System FIGURE: Sample map of a road Legend: Byway, Major Highways A. Entrances, Exits and Gateways B. Orientation Stops C. Repetitive Route Markers D. Directions to Planned Stops E. Portable Byway Map Guidance System Component: Entrances, Exits and Gateways FIGURE: Sample map of a road • “Now Entering _____ Byway” • Welcome/Thank You • National and State “Seals of Approval” • “________Byway, One Mile Ahead” • Use staged or multiple entry messages • Focus on message effectiveness, not monument building • Integrate with MUTCD and federal lands sign guidelines PHOTOS: entrance to a visitor's center, example of signs on a roadway Guidance System Component: Orientation Stops FIGURE: Sample map of a road • Provides the ‘beginning of an experience’ functions – Maps – Travel Tips – Special Travel or Detour information – Essential Services • Change in Frame of Mind—Prepare and build anticipation • Best when incorporated with the Byway Gateway • Pull-offs to public visitor or interpretation centers PHOTO: car stopped at a kiosk along the side of a road PHOTO: close up of a kiosk PHOTO: another type of kiosk PHOTOS: two photos of interpretive signs PHOTOS: two photos of "Treasures of the GREAT RIVER ROAD" interpretive sign, one photo is a close up Guidance System Component: Repetitive Route Markers FIGURE: Sample map of a road • The ‘mini-landmarks’ that direct and confirm the driver’s position • Visually link to: – Official route number(s) – Turns and intersections – Cardinal Direction (North, East, South, West) • Consistently spaced • Integrate with MUTCD and federal lands sign guidelines PHOTOS: three photos of signs Guidance System Component: Directions to Planned Stops FIGURE: Sample map of a road • Provides advanced notice of an upcoming stop – Scenic Overlook – Loop or side trail – Information Stop – Interpretive Exhibit • Give Key Information – Distance, Direction, Cautions • Integrate with MUTCD and federal lands sign guidelines PHOTO: photo of a series of signs Guidance System Component: Portable Byway Map FIGURE: Sample map of a road • Media Options – Complete, individual byway map – State or regional guide to multiple byways – Part of a state travel or vacation guide – Part of a guide to federal lands • Highlight – Route – Byway Attractions and Intrinsic Qualities – Intersecting Routes – Political Jurisdictions – Visitor Services – Good map basics: Scale, North, Date, Etc. • Use same graphic in multiple settings – Print, website, orientation stop, interpretation exhibits, etc. PHOTOS: two photos of maps of byways The Power of Maps Ten minutes of map study resulted in more accurate distance and direction knowledge --than 10 years of living in an environment. R. Lloyd (1989) Cognitive maps: Encoding and decoding information. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 79(1), 101-124. Byway Guidance System Key to Effective Wayfinding FIGURE: Essential Wayfinding Needs Identify origin and destination --Entrances, Exits and Gateways --Orientation Stops --Portable Byway Map Determine turn angles --Orientation Stops --Repetitive Route Markers --Portable Byway Map Identify segment links & directions of movement --Orientation Stops --Repetitive Route Markers --Portable Byway Map Recognize on-route and distant landmarks --Orientation Stops --Directions to Planned Stops --Portable Byway Map Mentally embed a cognitive map --Entrances, Exits and Gateways --Orientation Stops --Directions to Planned Stops --Portable Byway Map Role of Supplementals www.bridgeratings.com (Sample: 2,200 persons over 18 yrs. whose daily commute by car totals more than 1 hr.) FIGURE: Byway Guidance System ~100% (Est.) .. (pointing to area on road) In-car Device % Drivers Using AM/FM Radio 94% .. Cell Phone 58% .. <---2 Yr. Trend CD Player 53% .. MP3 Player 15% .. GPS System 12% .. DVD Player 10% .. Satellite Radio 4% .. PHOTO: a row of signs that read: THIS WAY THAT WAY NOWHERE ANYWHERE HOME AWAY YOUR LOST The unique experiences of traveling byways and accessing their intrinsic qualities are not possible unless travelers are successful at wayfinding. For the majority of byway travelers, the byway experience simply would not exist without guidance and consistent communication. Check out: www.bywaysresourcecenter.org David L. Dahlquist ddahlquist@mchsi.com 515 326-1593 Thanks for your interest and have a wonderful byway day!