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Designing a Graphic Configuration of University Cartography to Enhance Wayfinding Performance on Campus

Ratanachote Thienmongko
Department of New Media, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham, Thailand

Abstract—In public spaces, an appropriate wayfinding design and implementation can enable people to reach their destination correctly and safely. This article aims to design a wayfinding map of Mahasarakham University (Khamriang campus). In the first stage, a qualitative method was applied to inquire a key finding before summarized as a concept of design agreement. This agreement was employed to guide the development of a prototype map. Meanwhile, a quantitative method was applied to test the prototype in order to evaluate wayfinding behaviors and map-reading skills of sampling groups. They include two majors; an internal and external group (total 60 participants). The key findings from the evaluative process showed that comparing walking speeds from starting point to destination (distance: 300m) between the internal and external groups averages at 2.96 minutes and 6.84 minutes. Another key finding indicated that an average score under map-reading skills from all participants stay at () 4.41 points from 5 points. In the meantime, a result of design satisfaction from survey averages at () 4.40 points from 5 points.

Index Terms—Wayfinding behavior, readability, graphic design, cartography, communication design.


Cite: Ratanachote Thienmongkol, "Designing a Graphic Configuration of University Cartography to Enhance Wayfinding Performance on Campus," Journal of Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 15-20, 2018. Doi: 10.12720/jcm.13.1.15-20.