Airports Shouldn't Need a 'User Manual'

As an architect and frequent user of airports, I'm a strong advocate of intuitive wayfinding. Even those of us who fly every week have experienced disorientation and confusion when traveling through some terminals. Having to rely on signs is often as frustrating as having to refer to a user manual to operate a computer. Airports shouldn't need a "user manual" in the form of signage.

You may have wondered if there is a better way, and there is. The goal of architects and interior designers should be to design terminals that are so logical, so user-friendly and so easy-to-understand that signage becomes unnecessary. Although probably unattainable, it is a goal worth striving for.

Airport passengers are often time-constrained and stressed. Designers can reduce that stress through good design. In this context, "good design" is not about coming up with a unique roof form. It is about understanding passenger flow, ensuring that it is logical and fluid, and using all the tools in the "designer's toolbox" to support and reinforce optimum passenger flow.　

Imagine entering the front door of a terminal and seeing all the way through the building to the aircraft waiting at the gates. Such deep line-of-sight enables you to immediately understand how the building has been planned, where you are on your journey through it, and where you need to go - all without the need for signage.

Four of our greenfield terminals - at Niagara International, Greater Moncton International, Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier and Winnipeg International - have been designed to provide "see-through" experiences from check-in to gate.

Lighting and floor finishes can further highlight and emphasize the path from check-in to the security checkpoint, and thereafter to the gates. Ideally, focal points such as retail clusters, artwork, sculptures, water features and special live performance venues should be placed at key points on the path to the gates. Well-designed features such as these create points of reference and "meet-you-at" places - many that passengers will remember consciously, others exerting a subconscious influence.

When selected carefully, interior materials can create a serene acoustical environment, without unintelligible announcements that jangle the nerves and jarring sounds that ricochet off walls.

All of these design strategies - mostly visual, but some auditory - can and should be integrated to create a better passenger experience. Intuitive wayfinding delivers an environment that is stress-free, soothing and calming.

None of this means that the functional, technical and maintenance aspects of design should be underestimated or overlooked. First and foremost, airports need to meet the needs of the operator, airlines, tenants and many other stakeholders. Yet all too often, the needs of the passenger, who ultimately is the paying customer, are not particularly well served in the process.

Architects and interior designers should challenge themselves to focus on the passenger experience as they create terminals. Airports should not only be cost-effective and functional, but also easy to use. Steve Jobs and Apple designed the iPad to be so intuitive that a user manual simply isn't needed. Let's do the same when designing airport terminals. Let's only resort to a user manual (signage) when nothing else can do the job!