Phase 2: Sam's Summary

The purpose of my project is to design a landmark or image-based method of navigation for the city of Lota that connects its existing tourist attractions in a way that is easy to comprehend. Lota is a city rich in beauty and history, with a number of existing points of interest throughout the community. Currently, there it is quite difficult for an outsider to guide themselves from one point to the next. As Lota develops into a tourist destination a system of navigation will become increasingly important.

The trip to Lota was invaluable. The knowledge that the group gained from spending a week with the Lotinos, being immersed in their culture helped everyone to solidify their project directions. I was doing research with the community group while we were there. This meant spending a large amount of my time meeting members of the community, interviewing them, and learning about their day-to-day life. There were two experiences in Lota that helped me find my project direction. The first, was getting lost with my group when we were trying to meet up with a man that we were meant to interview. Though Lota has some signage, it's very limited, and in that case of the area we were in: there was none to be found. The group had to ask directions from the office staff at an elementary school we were walking past. Once we began to walk again, the gentleman we were supposed to meet came along and said he had been looking for us. Had he not come along, I don't think we ever would have found him.

The second experience that convinced me to explore wayfinding, was an interview that was conducted with a lady from the market. She was given the pen and paper and asked to draw a map depicting how she finds her way to and from work each day. She did not want to draw the map and continually attempted to hand the pen back. It was not a reluctance to share her story that held her back but rather an unfamiliarity with writing and drawing. Through the verbal interview with her she gave us directions for the hour and a half walk she does every day to and from work. But she didn't give street names when describing her journey. She gave landmarks.

Both of these experiences indicated to me that wayfinding for this city would be an interesting challenge. The three preliminary concepts I have been exploring have to do with further exploring the idea of landmark wayfinding.

Concept one is a city map that visually depicts images of what the user would see around the city. Being able to connect a building you're standing in front of with an image of the same building on a map will hopefully prove to be a simple way of orienting oneself.
Concept two is a site marker that uses the idea of place making to help the user guide themselves. When a user sees a branded sign or area within the city, they will know that they have arrived at a point of interest. The site marker could also display information or a historical background on a given attraction.
Concept three is a path marker. This could be in the form of a medallion that might be inset into the sidewalk or path. The user would follow these "breadcrumbs" from tourist site to tourist site.