UK Expo: wayfinding

by Mark Rowe

Security is not all about manpower and technology; it’s also about wayfinding.

Chris Girling and David Watts of the consultancy CCD Design and Ergonomics talked a UK Security Expo last week audience through security at major events, such as the London Olympics, from the perspective of providing good information to help people move on their journey. They introduced the concept of the ‘high-performing spectator’, and went through what staff, and some joined-up thinking, could do to help.

Cues and signs

Wayfinding they defined as what we do when finding our way through an unknown space. Typically that might mean signage; or ‘cues’ in the landscape, some obvious, some more subliminal, such as lighting. What does security have to do with this? As they said, security is one part of the event visitor’s journey, from travelling to the venue, to being there and after. Security is usually between the transport and inside the venue. How can you make sure that moving people through security is not a low point in the ‘experience’? And what can security do to turn more visitors into ‘high performing’ so they can help themselves, and move through quicker and more smoothly? At a long-running event such as Wimbledon tennis, many of the visitors already have expectations, and likewise the security practices are already in place. For a one-off like London 2012, the organisers Locog thought about how to prepare people before they travelled, especially to temporary venues, to find the entrance or the start of the queue.

More from the UK Security Expo in the January 2017 print issue of Professional Security magazine.

Photo by Mark Rowe: steps with rail to the Westfield shopping mall at Stratford, next door to the Olympic Park. Some directions may be obvious, and some visitors may already know the security and other ‘ropes’; but others may need help. For some background on the science and psychology of wayfinding, see the CCD Design blog.

About the UK Security Expo

The 2017 event will run at the same west London venue, Olympia, on Wednesday and Thursday, November 29 and 30. Visit www.uksecurityexpo.com.

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