City SignWalk

Free instructions and downloadable materials

This activity is offered free of charge for your use in educational settings or World Usability Day events.

On this page: Activity Summary | Learning Goals | Preparation | Setup | Moderating

Activity Summary

Description:

A usability specialist leads a group comprised of usability novices and experts on a walk around a city, public space, or through a cultural institution identifying and discussing signage. Participants evaluate signs' location, readability, typography, comprehensibility, impact on safety, inadvertent incongruities, and overall efficacy. Participants take pictures to document particularly noteworthy signs. Important findings may be given to the City or institution for the improvement of signage and citizen safety. SignWalks can be taken prior to World Usability Day and summary findings presented on World Usability day.

Activity type:

Ambulatory activity

Good for:

The general public, usability novices and professionals

Requires:

A walk leader versed in signage design, a predetermined accessible walking route

Minimum activity time:

1 hour

Docents/Moderators:

A walk leader who acts as a guide, one or more assistant guides for each group

Equipment:

• A camera for documenting noteworthy signage (optional)
• CityWalk tally sheet (MS Word) to support note taking (optional)

Signage:

• Download the Activity Signage (911K PDF)

Learning goals

This interactive walk takes usability "to the streets" and raises awareness of the components of successful signage. Novices and practitioners will become more aware of the signage they encounter and will be better able to create effective signage. Moreover, participants are given the opportunity to enjoy a thoughtful time outdoors.

Activity Preparation

1. Invite the general public and the usability community to participate in the walk.
2. Define a walking route that can easily be covered in an hour, with an emphasis on an area or cultural institution that is open to the public, supports group safety and that will feature a large number of public signs. Successful routes will support the group's ability to observe signs and discuss them without causing a public disturbance, interfering with traffic or commerce, or endangering participants or passersby.
3. Define a meeting time and location for the group to depart from and return to.
4. Inform the group of the meeting time, location, the duration and nature of the walk, and that the group will leave promptly at the departure time.
5. In the event of a large number of participants, divide participants into manageable groups and recruit additional walk leaders. Groups of no more than 10 persons (plus the moderator and an assistant) are generally effective.
6. Identify a photographer or note taker (as appropriate) for each group.
7. Prepare sign-in sheets for checking off participants as they arrive (and leave)
8. (Optional) Prepare cards with the group leader(s)' mobile phone or other number participants could call in the event they become separated from the group and/or lost.
9. Send an activity reminder one or two days prior to the SignWalk, reiterating the meeting time, location, and any equipment (walking shoes, raincoats, cameras) you recommend that participants consider bringing.

Activity Setup

1. Post activity signs in the group meeting area so that the gathering location is clearly identified.
2. Have the group leaders and any assistants arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the group's departure.

Activity Moderation

This activity works well when it has an activity leader and an assistant (per SignWalk group) who can greet each individual as they arrive.

1. As participants arrive, welcome them and check their name off the sign-in sheet.
2. Give each participant a number of tally sheets and phone contact information for the group leader (optional)
3. At the appointed time, gather the group(s) and give a brief introduction to the activity. This might include:
   • Identify the group leader and any assistants
   • The walk's purpose
   • A rough idea of the walk's route
   • The walk's duration
   • An overview of the facets of signage to be discussed, and the elements of successful signage
   • Any relevant safety information
   • Where the group shall return to
4. Begin the walk, taking care to set a reasonable pace that ensures no participant is left behind. Walks may follow a specific or more general route, allowing for participants to influence the group's direction. However, care should be taken to ensure the participants' safety, monitor their energy level, and not to prolong the walk beyond the appointed end-time.
5. Spend a reasonable amount of time with the signs you encounter, and strike a balance between having a robust discussion and returning to the meeting location on tine.
6. Periodically, as the group moves along the chosen route, group leaders and assistants should ensure that all participants are present.
7. Upon returning to the initial meeting location, group leaders may opt to summarize their group's experiences, double-check that all participants are present, and identify any volunteers who will summarizie the group findings/experience and presenting them on World Usability Day.
8. Group leaders should dismiss their groups.

Found a Better Way? Question? Comment?

If you have a variant, enhancement, or comment on this activity, send an email to: volunteer@upaboston.org.

Credits

The Boston sign image at the top of this page is borrowed with permission from the This Is Broken website.