48.2 Visible Visible Language Language 48.2 Design Research Journal Special Edition: Finding Our Way Through Environmental Communication August 2014 ISSN 0022-2224 CMYK Visible Language journal wishes to thank the following for kindly Mike Zender Editor serving as readers for this special issue on environmental communication. University of Cincinnati, School of Design Publisher Miranda Hall, Assistant Professor, La Roche College, Pittsburgh, PA Oscar Fernández Guest Editor Eric Shank, Designer, Columbus, OH Shelby Murphy Designer Gretchen Coss, Senior Associate, Gallagher & Associates, Silver Spring, MD Sheri Cottingim Circulation Manager Merald Wrolstad Founder Emily Verba, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH David Middleton, Professor, Kent State University, Kent, OH Website Leslie Wolke, Leslie Wolke Consulting + Writing, Austin, TX visiblelanguagejournal.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Postmaster United States Individual Institutional Send address changes to: 1 year $35.00 $65.00 Sheri Cottingim 2 year $65.00 $124.00 Office of Business Affairs 3 year $90.00 $183.00 College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning Canadian* Individual Institutional University of Cincinnati 1 year $44.00 $74.00 PO Box 210016 2 year $83.00 $142.00 3 year $117.00 $210.00 Cincinnati, OH 45221-0016 [email protected] Foreign** Individual Institutional 1 year $56.00 $86.00 2 year $107.00 $166.00 Published tri-annually in January, May and October 3 year $153.00 $246.00 © Copyright 2014 by University of Cincinnati Prepayment is required. Make checks payable to University of Cincinnati Visible Language in U.S. currency only, foreign bands need a U.S. correspondent bank. *Canadian subscriptions include additional postage ($9.00 per year). **Foreign subscriptions include additional postage ($21.00 per year). Before there was reading there was seeing. Visible Language has been concerned with ideas that help define the unique role and properties of visual communication. A basic ISSN 0022-2224 Published continuously since 1967 premise of the journal has been that created visual form is an autonomous system of Index included in last issue of volume year. expression that must be defined and explored on its own terms. Today more than ever people navigate the world and probe life’s meaning through visual language. This journal is devoted to enhancing people’s experience through the advancement of research and BACK COPIES practice of visual communication. A limited number of nearly all back numbers is available. The journal website at http://visiblelanguagejournal.com is searchable and lists all issues, contents, and abstracts. If you are involved in creating or understanding visual communication in any field, we invite your participation in Visible Language. While our scope is broad, our disciplinary COPYRIGHT INFORMATION application is primarily design. Because sensory experience is foundational in design, Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or for libraries and other research in design is often research in the experience of visual form: how it is made, users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, why it is beautiful, how it functions to help people form meaning. Research from provided that the base fee of $1.00 per article, plus .10 per page is paid directly to: many disciplines sheds light on this experience: neuroscience, cognition, perception, CCC 21 Congress Street psychology, education, communication, informatics, computer science, library science, Salem, Massachusetts 01970 linguistics. We welcome articles from these disciplines and more. Telephone 508-744-3350 0022-2224/86 $1.00 plus.10 Published continuously since 1967, Visible Language maintains its policy of having no formal editorial affiliation with any professional organization – this requires the continuing, active cooperation of key investigators and practitioners in all of the disciplines that impinge on the journal’s mission as stated above. Cué Patricia photography: cover K Visible Language 48.2 Design Research Journal Special Edition: Finding Our Way Through Environmental Communication ADVISORY BOARD Naomi Baron, The American University, Washington, D.C. Michael Bierut, Pentagram, New York, NY Keith Crutcher, Cincinnati, OH Matthew Carter, Carter & Cone Type, Cambridge, MA Mary Dyson, University of Reading, UK Jorge Frascara, University of Alberta, Canada, Universidad de las Americas Puebla Ken Friedman, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia Michael Golec, School of the Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, IL Judith Gregory, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA Aaron Marcus, Aaron Marcus & Associates, Berkeley Per Mollerup, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia Thomas Ockerse, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI Sharon Poggenpohl, Estes Park, CO Michael Renner, The Basel School of Design, Visual Communication Institute of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, Academy of Art and Design Stan Ruecker, IIT, Chicago, IL Katie Salen, DePaul University, Chicago, IL Peter Storkerson, Champaign, IL Karel van der Waarde, Avans University, Breda, The Netherlands Mike Zender, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH CONTENTS 6—33 Map Design for Complex Architecture: A User Study of Maps & Wayfinding Karen Cheng & Sarah Pérez-Kriz 34—47 The Environment is (Still) Not in the Head: Harry Heft and Contemporary Methodological Approaches to Navigation & Wayfinding. Ashley Walton 48—69 Learning Design Thinking by Designing Learning Experiences: A Case Study in the Development of Strategic Thinking Skills through the Design of Interactive Museum Exhibitions Lisa Fontaine 70—83 On the Wall: Designers as Agents for Change in Environmental Communication Patricia Cué 84—107 Rebuilding Perceptions: Using Experiential Graphic Design to Reconnect Neighborhoods to the Greater City Population Andrew T. Schwanbeck guest editor notes Whether with fingertip, legs, or by vehicle, people navigate dynamic seamless environments. Along the way, volumes of information instantly becomes accessible. Seeking to either play, purchase, learn, socially interact, or wayfind, environmental communication serves all human needs. Whether destinations be physical or virtual, the built environment traversed is increasingly being integrated with immersive and customizing technologies. The human experience is being affected in profound and accelerated ways. Planning for effective environmental communication has always required holistic thinking, an inclusive design process and empathy for people’s spa- tial narratives. Designing for environmental communication has provided the convergence of several related fields: architecture, landscape architec- ture, graphic design, industrial design, interaction design, anthropology, and cognitive science. Environmental communication is about building positive human experiences that provide people a sense of place, vital information accessed, comfort in spaces inhabited, and destinations found. For design curriculum today, how are they adjusting to accommodate and sufficiently prepare students? How shall communication design education develop a necessary knowledge base, new pedagogical methods, more inclusive design process, and elevate human centered priorities? This special issue on environmental communication begins to explore these questions. Beginning with Map Design for Complex Architecture, co-authors, Karen Cheng and Sarah Peréz-Kriz report on the design and testing of a hand-held map helping patients wayfind within a large medical complex. The second article, The Environment is not in the Head, Ashley Walton, provides another wayfinding viewpoint. She proposes that static representations of expe- rience (like maps) may fail to capture the interactive idiosyncrasies within specific environments across time and provides an alternative. In Learning Design by Designing Learning Experiences, Lisa Fontaine, shares classroom findings where strategic critical thinking skills are developed through the design of interactive museum exhibitions. The last two articles explore the interrelationships between environmental communication and sociocultural elements. With, On the Wall, Patricia Cué, analyzes the dynamics that operate behind vernacular design and their capacity of defining the shape and use of public and private spaces. Lastly, Rebuilding Perceptions, Andrew Schwan- beck, explores the potential value that environmental communication design can create to help promote and improve perceptions of a neighbor- hood within a segregated urban landscape. Hope you enjoy this special issue. Oscar Fernández 4 Visible Language 48.2 Map Design for Complex Architecture: A User Study of Maps & Wayfinding Karen Cheng & Sarah Pérez-Kriz The following study seeks to determine if a printed, paper map can aid visi- tors in navigating through complex architectural environments. Specifically, we report on the design and testing of two different paper maps intended to help patients find dental clinics and related offices within a large medical and health sciences center. As part of an iterative design process, we first identi- fied a variety of design factors that influence the cognitive aspects of using maps during wayfinding, and redesigned an existing map of the environ- ment based on those principles. We then conducted user testing to further determine what information should be included or excluded on the map and to see if changes in format