Wayfinding: Everything You Need to Know
Who has never spent a lot of time looking for a product in the supermarket, a store in the mall, the car in a huge parking lot and even got lost in the almost identical corridors of a hospital. Not to mention the frustration of seeing a park or an exhibition closing, and it was not possible to enjoy the whole experience, for having taken unnecessary turns instead of going straight to the desired places. If you identify with these situations, this article is for you. Here, you will know everything about the technology of wayfinding – which will put an end to these problems – and will stay on top of the various applications for the most diverse sectors and locations.
The Evolution of Wayfinding
You might be wondering what it is wayfinding and you can even get an idea from the terminology of the word, which joins “way” and “finding”.
Thus, Wayfinding is constituted as the junction of information that guides people to the place they want. In this way, it becomes possible to collect data on the user's positioning and thus trace routes to points of interest.
The term Wayfinding emerged in the 1960s, which was used by the architect Kevin Lynch and which referred to the set of urban elements that allow a person to fully navigate the city.
However, in the 1970s, the concept gained a new meaning and came to be known as “intuitive orientation”, which describes the individual's ability to perceive their location and know where they want to go. With this, it can be helped or hindered during its journey, depending on the Wayfinding resources available in the place.
With that in mind, the wayfinding came with the purpose of helping people to find points of interest inside or outside a place and throughout its evolution, it was configured and still is configured in different ways in everyday life.
In this way, Wayfinding can be identified in elements such as signposts with text, arrows and symbols (such as articles related to traffic), adhesive tapes on the floor and walls indicating the direction (common in parking lots), alphabetical identification and/or or numerical (such as the floors of a mall) and even on maps, whether physical or digital, such as printed, totems and applications.
Thus, configuring Wayfinding on printed maps may seem like a good option at first, as it allows distributing it to visitors, such as in parks and exhibitions, but this ends up generating a high cost with printing - which is unnecessary in a digital age -.
In addition, this is not a sustainable alternative and, depending on the use of each one, can pollute the environment if disposed of incorrectly.
Another way to provide the site map to visitors is through digital totems, which are easily found in malls. An advantage of this system is interactivity, allowing the user to search for desired locations, such as stores, bathrooms, access to parking, food court, etc. That way, he can visualize these points on the map and get a sense of how to get there.
However, because the totem is fixed in one place, the information necessary to maintain the visitor's full orientation ends up not accompanying him, leaving him hostage to his memory, third parties and other resources, such as signs, until the conclusion of the route.
Finally, the best map solution as a Wayfinding resource, currently, is found in applications and digital platforms and especially in Zapt Tech's Amazing Maps.
Digital Wayfinding and the GPS and IPS Systems
Location technologies such as GPS and IPS are great allies to Digital Wayfinding, but there are still several challenges to make this system work fully.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is widely used by many people in everyday life, such as navigation, delivery and sports applications (WazeGoogle MapsIfoodNike Run and others). Thus, for external environments (and which are not private) this system fulfills its function and is able to fully guide users.
However, when it comes to closed environments, the GPS loses its functionality, as the signals that are sent via satellite do not penetrate physical structures, such as the walls of an establishment. In this way, it is not possible to visualize the specifics of the place and, consequently, prevents the orientation of users.
Similarly, for environments that are open and private, such as urban parks, it is already possible to partially visualize the dimensions of the site. However, with conventional GPS applications, the richness of details of the place is considerably lost, not finding the location of shops, restaurants, snack bars, bathrooms, drinking fountains, attractions, exhibitions, roads and possible routes, which ends up contributing to a bad browsing experience.
Therefore, the user is lost and without obtaining the necessary information to carry out a good tour because he does not know his exact location, where his destination is located, which places he wants to visit, which routes he can use for this purpose and what he will find. by the way. These are basic data for visiting any medium and large establishment.
In this way, he becomes hostage to other people to get this information, as with the workers and security of the place or even pamphlets, which some places still distribute to try to help and inform the visitor. And even so, it requires a lot of effort and commitment to be able to identify the point where you are and follow the directions to the desired location without getting lost along the way.
But for the user's delight, it is currently possible to count on the Indoor Positioning System (IPS) which is an indoor location system, that is, for indoor places. Although it is not widely used by applications and is not part of the daily lives of many people, this technology has come to revolutionize the way in which we locate and orient ourselves in closed spaces.
Thus, as a great ally to the Wayfinding technology, the IPS processes signals such as Bluetooth and Wifi from smartphones, through complex algorithms, to interpret and calculate the precise and real-time location of the visitor. In addition, sensors such as the gyroscope, accelerometer and compass can also be used to increase the accuracy of the location when using this system in an application.
Thus, with this system linked to the Amazing Maps from Zapt tech and the technology of wayfinding, it is possible to view the entire map of the indoor location, identify points of interest such as bathrooms, stairs, elevators, emergency exits, cafeterias, parking, shops, rooms, exhibitions, attractions and many others, as well as trace routes to these in a dynamics.
In addition, for open and private environments, GPS can be used, which, together with Wayfinding and Amazing Maps, also provides this information and thus contributes to a better user experience, thus ending the dependence on third parties and resources such as printed and static papers, which do little to help visitors.
Zapt Tech's Wayfinding
Through our technology Amazing Maps and Wayfinding, the user can access the map of the internal and external location through their smartphone, identify the points of interest and their respective information, such as the opening hours of a restaurant within a park and trace routes to the desired destination.
In addition, the user has the ability to Blue dot, which is the blue dot which indicates your exact location on the map. Therefore, when he chooses to trace a route, this indicator moves with the person and keeps him updated at each step. Also, the voice guidance feature becomes an aid along the way, even more so for people with visual difficulties.
Furthermore, when the person traces a route through the application, before starting it, a preview of the entire route is available. Thus, it is possible to view the step by step to the destination, check if there is a need to take stairs or elevators along the way, if there is any other point of interest along the way and even check how far away the user is.
Another feature available is the search by categories. Thus, the user can select categories such as “food and beverages”, “decoration”, “appliances”, “furniture”, “perfumes”, “telephony”, “services”, “computers”, “toilets”, “parking”, “TV's and audio”, among others, as in the case of our Amazing Maps and Wayfinding implemented in the new Casas Bahia mega store.
In this way, the search becomes more targeted and thus facilitates the visualization of the options available in that location within a certain segment.
Another way to perform searches is by typing. Therefore, the user can search in an even more assertive way for his desired destination. In addition, as a facilitating means, the audio search can also be used for this purpose, which contributes to greater usability for people with visual difficulties.
With this scenario in mind, it is clear that the wayfinding from Zapt Tech is capable of elevating the user experience, by enabling them to make better decisions, save their time (by eliminating unnecessary turns, guiding them along the best path), find their points of interest with ease and enjoy the experience without relying on outdated resources to provide basic information.
In this way, it is possible to get the best of Wayfinding in the palm of your hand and in an ultra interactive way, with digital maps full of resources that transform the difficult task of orienting yourself into the easiest and most practical action possible.
Wayfinding: Benefits for Shopping Malls
Find what you need with Wayfinding
In a Shopping center, there is a wide variety of stores and services available to the consumer and because of this, the extension of this type of establishment is usually large, which ends up making it difficult to find the desired destination.
With wayfinding and Amazing Maps by Zapt Tech, the user has a ultra interactive map where you can carry out searches to find your points of interest, such as stores, restaurants, bathrooms, etc., and trace the best route to the desired location, quickly and practically.
Proximity Marketing
A great benefit for managers and superintendents is the proximity marketing that our platform offers. As a result, when a customer walks through the door of a specific store within a mall, their cell phone automatically receives a notification with promotions and product offers.
In addition, when the user starts browsing this platform for a longer time, our algorithm ends up drawing a purchase profile of that person and thus begins to personalize the notifications and, consequently, make them more assertive and difficult to ignore.
Despite appearing to be an invasive strategy, Zapt Tech built this solution with a view to respecting GDPR laws and user privacy. Click here to access an article on this subject.
Tracing Customer Behavior with Wayfinding
Imagine being able to find out what your customers' intentions and behavior are, being able to analyze data about the flow of traffic, design strategies to explore less-visited areas and even change the layout of the place, in order to generate more sales.
With Amazing Maps and wayfinding from Zapt Tech, this is possible. Because with our platform, you can have access to analysis tools and indicators such as: most visited days, frequency of visit, times of day, length of stay and frequency.
parental control
When walking in the mall with the family, it is common for parents to divide their attention between shopping and their children. It is not uncommon for them to end up moving away from those responsible and thus generating excessive concern for those who lost it.
However, with the Wayfinding and Amazing Maps, it is possible to share the location of selected devices and thus, know in real time, the position of each family member within the place, thus offering more security and tranquility to parents.
ESG - Accessibility
With the aim of promoting more accessibility for people with visual impairments, indoors, Zapt Tech has invested in a pioneering solution using Wayfinding Visual Impaired and Indoor GPS algorithms.
With this system, the user is guided by a voice resource, which describes the spaces and indicates obstacles along the way, providing more security during the journey. In addition, the interface is adaptable to this audience, precisely to facilitate use by these people.
In addition, for those who have some locomotor difficulty, such as people with reduced mobility and wheelchair users, the wayfinding from Zapt Tech plots accessible routes, excluding stairs, steps and other obstacles.
Find your Car Easily with Wayfinding
When spending hours in a mall, it is common to feel a little lost when finding the car in the parking lot. Even more so within this type of establishment, which has a large extension of floors and spaces for its customers.
To make this search faster and less exhaustive, with the wayfinding from Zapt Tech, you can save your car's location just by scanning a QR Code. So, regardless of where you are in the mall, you can trace the best route to your vehicle and thus save a lot of time in this task.
Wayfinding: Benefits for Hospitals
Easily Find the Exam Room
It is common for patients and visitors to feel lost with the almost identical corridors of a hospital and in situations of great stress, even the staff, doctors and nurses can also get lost.
In addition, they become hostages to third parties and the signs of the place to be able to orient themselves, which ends up demanding more time for a task that should be simple.
With Wayfinding and Amazing Maps from Zapt Tech, it is possible to find exam rooms and medical offices with ease, just by accessing the digital map of the place and tracing the best route to the destination. All in a few clicks.
Increases the Number of One-off Consultations
With the possibility for patients to consult the route independently, the challenges of reaching the final destination are considerably reduced, preventing them from getting lost or needing to consult third parties.
As a result, punctuality rates in hospital consultations increase considerably, thus undoing a whole chain of delays between patients and doctors.
Helps Keep Patient Stress to a Minimum Possible
Innovative solutions for wayfinding from Zap Tech are intuitive enough for the vast majority of people to use easily. So easy to use that people tend to forget about traditional hospital guidance signage.
In the case of hospital buildings, this makes it easier for patients and visitors as they are less likely to end up frustrated trying to figure out where they need to be. In this way, a properly run digitally guided hospital ensures that users always know exactly where they need to go and how to get there, helping them to stay calm and reduce their stress load.
Decreases the Workload of the Hospital Team
The hospital's digital signage, along with the wayfinding, allows visitors to get to where they need to be, without needing assistance. This frees up the team for more urgent tasks.
As stated earlier, having proper hospital guidance also keeps patients calm, making it easier and less stressful for hospital staff to do their jobs effectively.
Visitors' Time Savings
Time is a limited resource for everyone, but it's an especially crucial aspect of hospital operations, especially when a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.
Properly located hospital signage, along with Zapt Tech's indoor guidance system, ensures that users always know exactly where they need to go and how to get there, helping them stay calm.
Wayfinding: Benefits for Tourism
Economy
Currently, the use of printed maps in urban parks and museums, for example, is quite present. However, this practice leaves something to be desired when the subject is related to finance, since the printing of pamphlets for distribution to visitors is too expensive.
This fact ends up being aggravated when there is any change in the park's structure, such as renovations or even the opening of new areas and businesses, such as snack bars and restaurants, as it will be necessary to reprint the maps and discard the outdated print. Thus, this practice is inflexible and outdated, as establishments undergo constant changes.
With wayfinding and Amazing Maps by Zapt Tech, there is no need to add this cost to the production of printed materials, as the site map is generated digitally. In addition, with each change in the structure of the site, it is possible to add them to the map at no additional cost, thus contributing to greater savings, flexibility and efficiency.
Points of interest
In urban parks, it is common for visitors to feel lost due to the large territorial extension of the place. As a result, they end up having difficulties finding points of interest, such as snack bars, restaurants, restrooms, drinking fountains, parking, entrances and exits, attractions, etc.
With wayfinding and Amazing Maps by Zapt Tech, you can filter the points of interest by categories, choose which one you want to go to and plot the best route to the place. Thus, the user can find everything they want and have a better experience.
Choose the Best Itinerary with Wayfinding
With wayfinding and Amazing Maps by Zapt Tech, it becomes easier for the user to make better decisions regarding their itinerary to visit the park. Because he can visualize all the attractions and points of interest of the place, with great wealth of details and choose more logical routes, without unnecessary detours and turns, choosing the best possible path.
Web App and Wayfinding
When there is a need to download an application in order to access the digital map of the place, as well as other important information, it is common for some people to end up getting lazy or even end up giving up on completing this action.
However, with our wayfinding and Amazing Maps, you don't need to install any programs or download an application to access what you need. Thus, with distribution to the Web, the person only needs to access a search browser on their smartphone or scan a QR Code, which will automatically direct them to the digital map. Therefore, it becomes faster and easier to navigate the system and enjoy the best of Indoor Location.
Guided Tour
For some people, having to read extensive information and plaques with the history of some sculpture, place or work, can be a boring and tiring task. Thus, for those who want an immersive experience, but without having to stay for a long time in a certain place just to read long texts, you can count on the guided tour feature.
Thus, with Wayfinding and Amazing Maps, you will be able to move freely through the park, museum, among others, and listen to the information you want, depending on where you are.
Accessibility and Wayfinding
A major obstacle for people with mobility difficulties is the task of moving freely wherever they are. In this way, with the wayfinding and Amazing Maps by Zapt Tech, the user will be able to select the point of interest and trace alternative routes to reach their destination, avoiding obstacles such as stairs and difficult access paths.
In addition, for those with visual impairments, there is the possibility of using the voice guidance feature, which in turn, offers more autonomy and tranquility during locomotion around the place.
Wide Application
Whether in parks, museums, hotels, resorts, among others various sectors within tourism, Zapt Tech's Wayfinding is the best solution for locating and guiding people. No more leaving your visitors lost, frustrated and wasting their valuable time with simple tasks, such as moving around the site autonomously.
Investing in our Wayfinding is investing in the best experience for your visitor, which will consequently bring you good customer loyalty, in addition to standing out among competitors.
Wayfinding: Benefits for Events
Don't Leave Your Guests Lost
Imagine arriving at an event wanting to make the most of the experience and ending up getting frustrated when it comes to locating and orienting yourself around the place. Unfortunately for the visitor, situations like this are common. So, the wayfinding from Zapt Tech, can also be used in the event sector, whether small, medium or large.
With this, the visitor can access the digital map of the place, identify their destination of interest and trace routes to it, in addition to being able to follow their location throughout the journey. That way, your guest will spend less time worrying about this issue and will be able to dedicate their energy to what really matters.
Time Saving with Wayfinding
Have you ever thought about how much time your event visitors spend locating and orienting themselves? A spoiler: likely to take a long time. This is because the signage by signs (which is usually found in these places), is an outdated way for this purpose, being unintuitive to follow along the way, in addition to generating insecurity in the visitor.
Thus, it ends up demanding more time and even caution so as not to end up in the wrong place or take unnecessary turns.
With Zapt Tech Wayfinding, your guest will have no doubts. By accessing the Amazing Maps of the location, you will be able to view the entire route to your destination and will go straight there, unless you want to pass another point of interest along the way, but this will be by your choice and not an accident.
Accessible Routes
It is true that a good event is one that shows concern for ESG solutions and always aims to promote spaces for inclusion. Have you ever thought about the conditions of your event for those people who have some mobility difficulties and/or visual impairment?
So, for a really accessible event, you can count on Zapt Tech's Wayfinding and Amazing Maps, which generates routes free of stairs, steps and other obstacles, which are also pointed out by a voice guidance feature. With this, your visitor will have more freedom and autonomy to make the most of the experience that the event has to offer.
Proximity Communication Using Wayfinding
Establishing good communication with visitors during the event is of fundamental importance for everything to go well and as planned. In addition, being able to send alerts, announcements and relevant information to each guest's smartphone becomes an even better strategy.
So, with our Wayfinding and Amazing Maps, when the visitor is walking through the place, he can receive a personalized notification on his cell phone, depending on the place he is.
This action is made possible with our technology of beacons, which are small devices which emit signals from Bluetooth Low Energy. In this way, they can be placed at strategic points of the event, such as entrances, exits, points of sale, among others, so that visitors can be well informed and on top of the news.
Save with Wayfinding
In the event sector, it is common to use printed maps to assist in locating and orienting visitors around the place. However, this practice is currently outdated, since it demands a high cost for printing so many maps, in addition to not being ecologically sustainable.
In addition, if there is any change in the structure of the place or you need to change a sector at the last minute, you lose the freedom to make the same changes to the map instantly, in addition to adding an extra cost for printing a new one. takes.
That way, with Zapt Tech's Wayfinding and Amazing Maps, you can make changes to the map at any time and at no additional cost. This gives the event organizer more freedom and autonomy, as well as considerable savings.
Wayfinding: Benefits for Retail
Make your Shopping Faster with Wayfinding
Spending more than the desired time to make a purchase is common in most people's lives. That's because it's not always easy to know where each product you need is and so, they can spend up to hours to complete something that should be simple.
However, with the wayfinding from Zapt Tech, this is no longer a problem. It becomes easier and faster to find what you want, because with our technology, the user can know the location of the products and trace the best route to them, which consequently ends up saving a lot of time in this process.
Find Everything You Want Easily
Imagine you arrive at a supermarket or some other store, with a list of items to pick up. You start looking for these products, you try to consult some signs, but you still feel lost and end up having to turn to third parties, such as that employee who is replacing an item on the shelf, the security guard or even the person who is at the cashier, to be able to find what you want. Then you get some coordinates, head towards the location and in the middle of the way you get lost again.
This scenario describes the daily lives of many people who need to do their shopping and end up having quite a challenge in this process. In addition, they waste a lot of time on something that could be quick and practical.
With Zapt Tech's Wayfinding and Amazing Maps, this will no longer be a problem. Because with our technology, the user can download an application or scan a QR Code to access the store's digital map.
With this, it will visualize its position on the map, identify the points of interest and then trace the best route to the selected destination, ending all the suffering and stress for this purpose.
Filter by Categories with Wayfinding
When we are in a store, we come across an infinity of products and we end up going through several aisles until we find what we need. Similarly, when opening a digital map of this location, you can view various points of interest and, consequently, the user may even feel a little confused with so many options to evaluate and find the specific item they want.
Thus, one way to facilitate the user's search for your product is the functionality of filtering by categories. Like this wayfinding and Amazing Maps by Zapt Tech, you'll find a search bar and categories so you can quickly type or select what you want. Therefore, he will be able to eliminate what does not interest him and thus, make a more assertive purchase.
Plot the Best Strategy with Heat Maps
In an establishment, it is common to have some places with more and less movement. This is due to the fact that some products have a higher search and output than others. Thus, most customers end up spending more in some aisles than in others and, consequently, are exposed to a more specific portion of items.
In this way, a technology that can be linked to Zapt Tech's Wayfinding and Amazing Maps is the Heat Map. With this solution implemented, it will be possible to visualize which areas are (higher and lower circulation) and thus, strategies can be devised to move some products, change some location sector, offer promotions in the area with greater reach among other possibilities.
In this way, with a simple analysis of the Heat Map, it is possible to customize strategies and changes in order to generate more revenue and satisfactory results.
Wayfinding: Benefits for the Industry
“Industrial Waze”
To locate people and assets in industrial establishments, conventional GPS ends up not meeting the user's needs. Like this Wayfinding and Indoor and Outdoor GPS by Zapt Tech, it is possible to define and modify paths, from corridors, walkways, streets, floors and transitions in a simple and fast way.
With this, a more autonomous navigation between offices, factories and warehouses is made possible, thus assisting your employees and visitors in the best possible way.
Stay on top of things
Having technology like Zapt Tech's Wayfinding and Amazing Maps is more affordable than you might think. Thus, it is known that in order to keep offices, factories and other establishments running smoothly, managers need to be aware of the movement and status of their employees and assets.
Thus, with Indoor GPS, it is possible to monitor the people and assets of the place, in real time, and collect important data and information by “mere proximity”.
Data Intelligence About Employee Flow
With Heat Map linked to Wayfinding and Amazing Maps technologies, it is possible to know and monitor all the movement of the place, being able to also carry out personalized searches by day, time and other filters. Thus contributing to a better monitoring of the work developed on site and better management.
Wayfinding: General Benefits
Self service
As interactive wayfinding is essentially self-service, it frees staff from giving instructions throughout the day and gives them the opportunity to be more productive and focus on giving more personalized attention to visitors. Thus, this action helps to increase the satisfaction of visitors and employees.
the new normal
People expect information to be, if not fully interactive, at least presented in a similar way to how they get their other information. Throughout the day, people spend a lot of time on their computers and mobile devices, looking for everything from sports scores and airline tickets to cooking recipes.
In this way, transforming physical spaces into places with great digital interactivity is necessary nowadays. The information needs to be easily accessible and preferably in the palm of the user's hand.
Thus, whoever invests in digital transformation and implements our wayfinding, Amazing Maps, beacons among others, it will automatically be meeting the demands of the new technological era and, consequently, standing out in the market and building customer loyalty.
Flexibility
There are many different ways to present information – from animated 3D maps to 2D floor plans, event lists and searchable directories. Each element can be exposed in multiple ways, all accessible from a single screen.
Information can be presented, sorted and searched alphabetically or by rooms, departments, people, floors or upcoming events. This allows people to view information the way they prefer, so all age groups and audiences can be served in just one place.
In addition, investing in Wayfinding and Amazing Maps technology allows all information to be easily edited. So, if there is a renovation in the place, in the rooms or even the relocation of some sectors, all this can be easily updated, in just a few minutes.
Responsiveness
Using HTML to design your Wayfinding makes it possible for people to take your coordinates with them as they go. This is a responsive format that adapts to any screen it is displayed on, so it can run on any mobile or fixed device.
Investing in wayfinding for a mobile app can provide step-by-step instructions along with photos of landmarks for easy identification and can actually track where a specific person is in the facility and provide directions from that location.
Inclusive Wayfinding
With well-thought-out design and navigation options, a good playful Wayfinding is compatible with inclusion standards and programs. This means that everyone can have equal access to the information you offer as an inclusive and modern experience, regardless of their disabilities.
How Zapt Tech Can Help You
In view of all the scenarios exposed, it is clear that the wayfinding from Zapt Tech is capable of elevating the user experience in any environment where this technology is implemented.
Thus, our purpose is to transform physical environments into true digital experiences and as a pioneer in the Indoor Location sector, we promise to deliver the best of this technology to our customers and partners.
So, if you want to elevate the experience of your visitors, contact us by email: contato@zapt.tech
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