Self-initiated exploration. Not commissioned or deployed.
Wayfinding for a hybrid campus
The institutional question: how does a decentralized campus tell a visitor where to go, when the answer changes by the hour?
Figure ratio — 16:9
The full study
Why it is difficult
Place data lives in separate facilities, events and registrar systems; buildings carry donor names rather than functions; hybrid schedules change access hour by hour.
Constraints & stakeholders
Facilities, registrar, event operations and accessibility services all own part of the answer; visitors, students and staff ask in different vocabularies.
Hypothesis
Navigation should answer "what can I do there right now," not only "where is it." Place is content with state, not a pin on a map.
Approach
Model places as structured content with live states; a plain-language directory feeds a place detail with hours, current use and an entry route.
Decisions & tradeoffs
Numbered indices over a campus map — maps hide state and fail screen readers first. Entry routes as text, not floor plans.
What it demonstrates
Information architecture, interaction design and accessible state communication under real institutional constraints.
What we would measure
Proposed, not achieved: time to locate an open study space; questions answered without staff help; screen-reader completion of directory → place → route.
To test with a real institution
Whether facilities and event feeds can keep place states fresh, and who governs them.