ay not leave things to the last minute like me, but this is a fairly common occurrence in my life and judge me or not, I can’t stand it when I walk into a large store and have no sense of direction at all. Wayfinding is obviously used in airports, train stations and the like and is about getting from A to B as quickly and efficiently as possible. With retail, however, there is more to it than that.  Depending on the merchandise and the desired customer experience, there is always an element of wanting customers to explore or stumble across bits and bobs they weren’t looking for and encouraging them to go off course without feeling lost and overwhelmed. I really like using the terminology “wayfinding is the silent salesperson” and when you think about it, they kind of are. When there’s nobody else to show you where to go, a sign or some sort of directionality should be made available. The silent salesperson is really the tool which surreptitiously guides the customer across and around the store and should increase that all important dwell time. How does one achieve such discretion and a successful wayfinding strategy? My first piece of advice is simplicity.  Consider the tube and metro maps across the globe. At first glance they’re a myriad colours and lines but, in fact, they are designed so that pretty much anyone new to town can decipher them fairly quickly. The other is form. Think about whether a traditional sign or something digital would work better for the store and also your target market.Some principles for effective wayfinding include: create an identity at each location; create well-structured paths; don’t give the user too many choices in navigation; use survey views (provide shoppers with a map if the store is large enough); provide signs at decision points to help wayfinding decisions; and use sight lines to show what’s ahead. Don’t strain your customer’s eyes with code words. Signage best suits an easily read font and a combination of upper and lower case for ease of reading. Make sure your signage stands out by using high contrast between the signage text and its background colour for easy long distance reading. Ensure the design of the signage aligns with your brand. Handwritten signs might be okay for a $2 store but not for high-end products. Wayfinding is definitely part of the equation in making a store successful and more memorable. See what I mean?  See what I did here?Lizzi Hines is MD of Spaceworks. For more information, phone 0800 2 FIT OUT, or visit www.spaceworks.co.nz.