03 · Campus wayfinding system · 2023
Designing an accessible campus wayfinding system for MIT-WPU
An eight-week collaborative project combining physical signage and a mobile web experience so students, visitors and staff can find destinations across the MIT-WPU campus without asking for help.
A recording of the campus wayfinding prototype — physical boards, then home, map, search, a highlighted walk, and arrival.
Physical — The map board sequence — sketch to product — before the phone journey starts.
Empathize
Walk, survey, interviews
Define
Problem, map, journey
Ideate
Flows and sketches
Prototype
Build and test
New students and campus visitors struggle to find unfamiliar destinations because campus directions are inconsistent, hard to see and disconnected from any digital guide. People lose time, lose confidence, and end up depending on security or other students.
How might we help a first-time visitor reach an unfamiliar destination independently, confidently and accessibly?
We walked the campus, surveyed 30 people, and talked to new students and visitors about where they got lost and what they expected from signs — so the system would come from how people actually find their way.
Walked the campus and marked decision points, missing signs, blocked views and faded lettering.
Google Form with 30 campus users — students, visitors and staff — on finding destinations and noticing signs.
Talked to new students and visitors about where they got lost, who they asked, and what they expected to see.
Survey of 30 campus users.
89.5%
Had trouble reaching a destination
57.9%
Had not noticed any campus signage
100%
Said the current system needed to change
0
Rated sign clarity 4 or 5 out of 5
Arrive
HappyExperience
Expectations
Enter
NeutralExperience
Expectations
Explore
UnhappyExperience
Expectations
Enquiry
UnhappyExperience
Expectations
Destination
NeutralExperience
Expectations
Insight 01
A single arrow at a junction is not enough. People become uncertain when nothing confirms they are still on the right path — which is why they stop and ask.
Design response. Place confirmation after major turns, and show progress in the mobile journey.
Insight 02
Visitors do not know school codes, building nicknames or which department sits in which block.
Design response. Use plain names, landmarks and the same words on signs and on the phone.
Insight 03
We mapped the campus and marked decision points. Existing signs sat where a wall was free, not where a person had to choose a direction.
Design response. Place signs from the route map, not from leftover wall space.
Insight 04
A large campus has too many origin–destination pairs for boards alone.
Design response. Signs handle orientation. The phone handles a personal route.
Insight 05
Low battery, poor signal, or low digital confidence are normal on a first visit.
Design response. The physical system has to work on its own. Digital is an enhancement, not a requirement.
Physical pylons, directional boards, and a QR-opened phone page work as one system. Signs get you oriented; the phone gets you to the door.
Maps at entrances: you-are-here, zones, destinations, accessible routes.
Pylons at junctions: destination, arrow, walking time, accessible-route mark.
QR opens a mobile web page — no app, no in-app scan. A highlighted walk with landmarks to the door.
The map board helps a visitor find their way: they press a destination, LEDs mark the walking path, and a QR opens the rest of the journey on their phone.
From sketch to product
Explore · Sketch
Step 01 / 05
Dome, arch and lotus from campus, then the pylon and map-board evolution.
The mobile web page uses the official MIT-WPU lockup, navy, red and Inter — the same system as the screens below.
Navy
#0C1151
Type, icons, buttons, you-are-here
Red
#DA1C36
Labels, selected pin
White
#FFFFFF
Screens and cards
Sage
#E8EEE6
Campus map
QR on a board opens a mobile web page — no app, and no second scan. You start at that board. You can change current location, pick a place, follow the highlighted walk on the map, then see the door.
Screen 01
Start without knowing campus names.
Campus wayfinding
1. Search
Start even if you don’t know campus names.
2. Current location
Opens at Main Gate. Tap to share live location, pick a place, or drop a pin.
3. Campus map
You-are-here follows the location you set. Tap the map to pick a building.
Screen 02
Find a building, department or facility in plain language.
Search
1. Plain names
Name plus a short group, not a school code.
2. Same path
Tapping a row opens the walk on the map — same as Home.
Screen 03
Orient, pan, then choose by tapping a building.
1. Full-screen map
Pan and zoom the campus. Navy is you.
2. Tap a building
Choosing a place highlights the walk — no Get directions screen.
3. You are here
Navy dot at your current location, so the map always has a start.
Screen 04
Follow the walk on the map.
Walking to
Admissions
1. Path on the map
The walk stays highlighted. Pan and zoom if you need to.
2. You and the door
Navy is where you are. Red is the destination you picked.
3. I’ve arrived
When the path ends, confirm you are at the right door.
Screen 05
Prove this is the right door.
You are here
Admissions
Building 3 · Ground floor · Main campus
Open 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM · Mon–Sat
Ground-floor entrance faces the quad. If the door is closed, use the side entrance on the left.
1. You’ve arrived
The name matches the door in front of you.
2. Which door
Hours and how to enter, so people don’t ask at the threshold.
Set current location if you are not at Main Gate, then tap a destination. Home, search and map all open the same highlighted walk — no Get directions screen.
Campus wayfinding
Tap a destination · follow the path
The project produced one connected wayfinding concept across entrance maps, junction signs and a no-download mobile journey. Visitors can choose a destination, compare usual and step-free routes, follow landmark-based directions and confirm the correct entrance — without depending on staff at every turn.
The concept is ready for an on-campus pilot, but it was not benchmarked against the existing signage. The next round of testing should measure completion rate, travel time, wrong turns and requests for help, then use those findings to refine sign placement and route instructions.
Led a team of seven designers, plus a mentor, as team lead and product designer over eight weeks.