Abstract

This article is part of an ongoing research project called Percept Walk, developed at the Research Center in Architecture, Urban Planning and Design (hereafter CIAUD) in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Lisbon. Wayfinding is a design project in which user-centered design methodologies are necessary and applied. A user-sensing design evaluation, waysensing, will focus on colour and background contrast colour definition for the written material and also on floor stripes; on the legibility and readability, by evaluating the most efficient typefaces, text sizes, letter spacing, and adapted pictograms; and on the haptic evaluation of foot touch and its relation to dexterity and balance. People use more than one sense to perceive the environment and through the waysensing process the gathered data will guide the development of a multimodal sensory-motor wayfinding system that in this particular case is visual and haptic. A well-designed wayfinding system can reduce hospital patients’ stress levels, aid efficient business practices, and ensure safe crowd management.