Designing with People in Mind: Wayfinding fundamentals

Wayfinding is about more than getting from A to B. It’s about how people feel along the way, confident, calm, and connected to where they are.

At Extrablack, we design signage and wayfinding systems through a human-centred lens, blending empathy, behavioural insight and design precision to create environments that work for everyone.

Good signage doesn’t just point the way, it shapes how people experience a place.

Human-centred design starts with people. How they move, what they notice, and where they hesitate.
Every environment has its own story, and our job is to make that story easy to follow.

At Capella Sydney, we observed how guests instinctively navigated through the heritage corridors of the old Department of Education building. The result was a system that feels like it has always belonged, quiet, confident, and elegantly integrated into the architecture. Guests never need to think about where to go. They just flow.

At Parramatta Aquatic Centre and Gunyama Aquatic Centre, the focus was on families, swimmers, and community. Signage was designed to be instantly clear, intuitive and inclusive, simple typography, durable materials, and legible contrast that works from wet concourse to sunny pool deck. These are places where people move quickly, often carrying gear or children, and the design had to remove friction from every moment.

1. Empathy Comes First

Every project begins with understanding people, their needs, anxieties and behaviours.
When we worked with Endeavour Energy on their new headquarters, we saw how employees and visitors encountered stories of Country, connection and innovation throughout the building.

The wayfinding system became part of that narrative, weaving Indigenous stories into the spatial journey. It wasn’t just about direction, it was about identity and belonging.

Design tip: Observe before you design. People will always show you what the building doesn’t.

2. Reduce Cognitive Load

Good wayfinding gives people information at the exact moment they need it, no more, no less.
In environments like Suncorp’s headquarters, where thousands of employees and visitors move daily across multiple floors, clarity is everything.

We designed a hierarchy of information that lets people orient instantly, major destinations clearly signposted, secondary spaces seamlessly discovered. The system works quietly in the background so people can focus on their day, not their direction.

Design tip: If someone can understand a sign in three seconds or less, you’ve done your job.

3. Design for Everyone

Inclusivity isn’t an add-on; it’s embedded from the start.
At the Parramatta Riverside Theatres, our design approach considered audiences of all ages and abilities, from high-contrast type for accessibility, to multilingual messaging and intuitive pictograms for visitors from diverse cultural backgrounds. The goal was simple: make every person feel welcome, independent, and at ease.

Design tip: True accessibility is invisible — it just works for everyone.

4. Let the Environment Lead

Sometimes, the best sign isn’t a sign at all. We believe the architecture, materials and light should do as much orienting as the graphics. In property sales environments, we design journeys that use spatial cues and subtle messaging to guide buyers through the story of a development, from entry sequence to immersive brand storytelling zones. Every element, lighting, imagery, typography, works together to make navigation feel natural and emotionally aligned with the brand.

Design tip: When space and signage speak the same language, navigation becomes effortless.

5. Prototype, Test, Refine

Human-centred design is iterative. We test in real environments, mock-ups, temporary signs, and in-field observation. People don’t always behave the way we expect them to. That’s why we watch, learn and adapt.

At Parramatta Aquatic Centre, testing revealed how sight-lines shifted with changing light and crowd flow. Adjusting placement by just a few degrees transformed visibility, proof that insight often lives in the details.

Design tip: The best systems evolve with the people who use them.