Office Wayfinding In 2025 [Benefits and Best Practices]

It can be difficult for employees and visitors to find their way around an office, especially when there are multiple floors and meeting rooms or flexible facilities to suit hybrid work.

With many hybrid employees only working from the office a couple of days a week, they can have a hard time finding available desks or collaboration spaces since everything is constantly changing.

The good news is that office wayfinding can make this much easier. With the right wayfinding systems and signage, employees and visitors can easily navigate a building, creating a far better experience.

Quick Summary

• Office wayfinding refers to the tools and design strategies used to help employees and visitors navigate an office space effectively. It often includes signage, digital directories, maps, and visual cues, guiding people to locations like meeting rooms, workstations, and amenities. By enhancing the ease of movement within a building, office wayfinding reduces confusion, saves time, and improves the overall user experience in the workplace.
• Office wayfinding can increase workstation accessibility and efficiency and also improve workplace safety.
• Using office wayfinding tools and strategies is especially important for hybrid workspaces.
• Digital wayfinding is becoming more critical as companies integrate digital systems, enabling people to engage with the office when working remotely.

What Is Office Wayfinding?

Office wayfinding is finding your way around the office. It uses visual cues, signage, or maps that help employees and clients navigate the building and workspaces. You can think of it as a GPS for your work environment.

There are two different types of office wayfinding: physical and digital. Let’s have a look at each of these in more detail.

1. Physical Wayfinding

These are static signs that provide visual cues inside the office.

• Wall and hanging signs: These are the signs mounted on the ceiling or walls showing directions.
• Door signs: These are generally labels or plates mounted on doors indicating room names or numbers.
• Floor graphics: Arrows placed on the floors to guide foot traffic are a good example of floor graphics.
• Directory boards: These large boards, typically found in the lobbies of large buildings, list the different companies on each floor.
• Freestanding signs: Portable signs, such as “Event Check-Ins Here,” are placed in important areas and can be moved around.
• Elevator or stairwell signs: These are signs inside or near the stairs or elevator that show offices on specific floors.

2. Digital Wayfinding

Digital wayfinding involves the use of technology to help navigate the office.

• Interactive touchscreens: Typically placed in lobbies, these touchscreens allow visitors to search for a specific office or person.
• Room availability displays: These are often small digital screens outside meeting rooms and workstations that show availability. Read more about meeting room displays.
• Digital directories: These wayfinding signs are similar to physical directions but they are displayed on large digital monitors that can be easily updated from a computer or app.
• Dynamic hallway displays: These screens show important company announcements and upcoming events and are usually in shared spaces (such as office kitchens or lounges).
• Mobile apps with wayfinding: These are apps that help employees determine which desks are available and where their teammates are in the office.

Why Is Office Wayfinding Important?

If your employees or clients enter the office and feel lost, it’s a clear sign that you must improve your wayfinding. An effective wayfinding system will enhance accessibility, create a better brand image, and improve office safety.

Improve Workplace Safety and Security

Wayfinding signs can help people quickly locate the exit during emergencies, such as fires or robberies. These situations can make people panic, so having a mixture of physical and digital signs showing them the way can help ensure their safety.

Plus, if you use digital signage, these screens and devices can also give audio and visual warnings to exit the building. For example, the signs can display messages, such as “Evacuate Now,” or provide audio alerts to reinforce the situation’s urgency.

Increase Accessibility

Wayfinding can help employees find workstations easily.

This is especially helpful for companies that follow a hybrid work model since employees who primarily work from home can feel disoriented when they come into the office. As a result, it can be harder for them to dive into their work on in-office days. But, with the help of signs and tools, they can easily navigate the office, see available workstations, and start being productive right away.

Plus, digital wayfinding tools can also help them determine the availability of desks and meeting rooms by logging into the app. With a few clicks, they’ll know which desks their team members occupy and can book their workstations accordingly.

This can, in turn, result in more efficiency since your employees won’t waste time getting lost at work or driving to the office just to see that there aren’t any desks available.

OfficeRnD Workplace is a hybrid work management platform that helps employees easily navigate the office and book available resources such as conference rooms and desks. See how.

Create a Better Brand Image

Signage can improve the visitor experience.

According to a study that surveyed 1,000 Americans and Australians, 79% believe that a company’s signage reflects the quality of its products and services.

So, by incorporating well-designed physical and digital signage, your company can appear more professional and polished, which can help increase credibility.

The Need for Digital Wayfinding in 2024 and Beyond

Digital wayfinding has many advantages over physical signage. It can integrate with different technologies and is more scalable.

Integration With Technology

Wayfinding software can often integrate with other technology, such as desk booking systems, creating a seamless employee experience.

You can also use these apps to understand office usage and optimize your space. For example, you can track and measure how your space is being used and adjust the office layout, seating arrangements, and schedules as needed.

Adaption to Hyrbid and Flexible Work Models

In quarter two of 2024, 53% of US workers were on a hybrid model, indicating a significant shift toward this way of working.

Using digital wayfinding tools and booking systems can help your hybrid workforce easily book desks and meeting rooms based on their schedules, resulting in less confusion and wasted time.

Cost and Resource Efficiency

Digital signage can be updated with the click of a button. This makes these signs more scalable and flexible.

Regardless of how many times you update your office layout, you won’t have to invest in new signage. You can simply update the digital signs and systems.

How to Create an Office Wayfinding System

Wayfinding can only be successful if done right. Below are some best practices for implementing these systems and signage.

1. Use All Four Types of Wayfinding Signage

There are four different types of wayfinding signage:

• Identification: Helps users recognize critical office areas
• Directional: Guides people through the building
• Informational: Provides context for different workspaces
• Regulatory: Ensures safety and compliance

You need to implement all four types for a more seamless navigation experience. Each serves a unique purpose in helping your staff and visitors find their way around the office.

2. Implement Clear and Useful Signage

Ever heard the saying, “Simple is best”? This is the case with wayfinding. The signs you use should be simple. You must ensure that you only use universally recognized symbols, such as arrows, to guide people.

Your maps should be clear, and you should avoid using any jargon or overly complicated language. A good way to determine if the language is too complicated is to do an eight-year-old test. Ask yourself, could an average eight-year-old child understand the directions and language? If so, you’re good to go.

3. Use Color Coding

Use color coding for different office parts so employees can differentiate between certain areas. For example, you can choose different colors to designate space, like this:

• Green for the kitchen area
• Blue for meeting rooms
• Purple for quiet areas
• Red for exits

For this to work well, you need to keep the meaning of colors in mind. For example, red is the universal color for danger, which is why it is often used for exit signs.

4. Optimize With Digital Wayfinding Tools

As mentioned above, digital wayfinding offers more flexibility than physical signage. It can be adjusted as your office environment changes and offers real-time insights.

You can consider using a tool like OfficeRnD Workplace, which allows employees to find and reserve desks using digital office maps.

Although the initial investment in digital wayfinding signage and tools may be higher than that of physical signage, the long-term return on investment must be considered.

5. Focus on Accessibility and Inclusivity

Ensure that the signage and wayfinding systems you use are accessible and inclusive for everyone, including those with disabilities. They must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines.

Consider the following:

• Large signs and fonts for people with visual impairments
• Braille and tactile signage
• Audio and visual cues
• Consistent placement of signage at appropriate heights and locations

You should also ensure that the tools you implement are user-friendly and that all employees can understand them, even those who aren’t tech-savvy.

Use OfficeRnD Workplace to Improve Office Wayfinding

Now that you understand the importance of office wayfinding, you can consider what type of signage and systems you want to implement in your workplace.

FAQ

What Is the Purpose of Wayfinding?

Wayfinding is intended to help people easily navigate an office space using physical and digital signs and tools. It helps them find their way around the building more easily and improves productivity and the employee experience.

What are the Benefits of Wayfinding?

Wayfinding offers several benefits by improving navigation, reducing stress, and enhancing overall user experience in complex environments like offices or hospitals. It minimizes time spent searching for destinations, increasing productivity and efficiency in workplaces. Effective wayfinding can enhance accessibility, ensuring all users, including those unfamiliar with the layout, can easily navigate the space. This contributes to a more welcoming, organized, and user-friendly environment, improving satisfaction for employees and visitors alike.

What are the 4 Types of Wayfinding?

The four types of wayfinding are:

1. Identification: Helps people recognize locations, like room names or area labels, by clearly marking important destinations.
2. Directional: Guides people through an environment with arrows or signs, indicating the path to follow.
3. Informational: Provides essential details about an area, such as hours of operation, rules, or room capacity.
4. Regulatory: Communicates rules and restrictions, such as “No Entry” or “Employees Only,” to maintain order and safety.

These types work together to create a seamless navigation experience, making it easy for users to understand and move through a space effectively.

What Makes Good Wayfinding?

Good wayfinding helps deliver a better office experience for visitors and employees, even those with impairments. It ensures that people can easily find their way around a building and contributes to a sense of comfort, inclusivity, and productivity.

Some key elements of good office wayfinding include clarity and simplicity, accessibility, consistency, and integration with technology.

What are Some Examples of Wayfinding Signs?

Examples of wayfinding signs include:

• Directional Arrows: These guide individuals toward specific areas, such as pointing to meeting rooms, restrooms, or exits.
• Room Identification Signs: Name or label specific rooms and areas, such as “Conference Room A” or “Break Room,” helping people recognize destinations immediately.
• Informational Signs: Provide general information, like hours of operation or special instructions, such as “Quiet Zone” or “No Cell Phones.”
• Floor Maps or Directories: Often located at entry points, these display the layout of the space to help users plan their route.
• Safety and Regulatory Sign: Indicate areas with restricted access, emergency exits, or safety instructions, such as “Emergency Exit Only” or “Authorized Personnel Only.”

How do you Design Wayfinding?

To design effective wayfinding, start by understanding the layout and flow of the space, including main entry points, destinations, and high-traffic areas. Utilize clear, concise signage with universal symbols and easy-to-read fonts, ensuring visibility from various distances. Color coding and consistent iconography can further aid recognition and help guide users intuitively. Consider incorporating maps or digital directories at key points like entrances, and use regulatory signs for safety compliance. Testing the wayfinding system by observing real user interactions can help fine-tune the design for optimal navigation.

How Should You Use Colors in Wayfinding?

Distinct colors like green, red, blue, yellow, and black can make signage easier to understand.

• Green: Represents safety and direction
• Red: Indicates warnings and restricted areas
• Blue: Represents areas of information, like meeting spaces
• Yellow: Usually used for cautionary signs, such as hazards
• Black: Used for identification, such as words and floor numbers

Why is Wayfinding Important in the Workplace?

Wayfinding is important in the workplace because it streamlines navigation, helping employees and visitors locate rooms, resources, and amenities quickly and efficiently. Effective wayfinding reduces time spent searching for locations, which can boost productivity and decrease frustration. It also enhances the overall experience in the workplace, making the environment more accessible and intuitive, especially in larger or more complex office layouts. This clarity supports a more organized and user-friendly workspace, which contributes to smoother operations and improved visitor impressions.