In chapter 2 of Ambient Findability, Morville suggests, “trouble is that we don’t care enough about waylinding (let alone signs) to insist on doing the job properly” (28). I never realized that directions played a crucial element between life and death. It may seem a bit melodramatic to go to the extremes of life and death but as Morville points out

“People die because ambulance drivers can’t find their way to an address in time. People die because of badly placed or poorly labeled fire exits. People die because they’re looking at a map instead of the road. Because of poor wayfinding design, people die” (29)

When a person has a heart attack or stroke, every single second counts. If there were no proper signs in the area, it would waste time for the ambulance driver to figure things out.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/51933782@N02/4785436329/sizes/s/in/photostream/)

One thing to keep in mind is that street signs appear completely differently at night than in the day. I have to been to places such as Williamstown, WV where some of the signs are small green letters that appear vertically on a dark wood. At night the light from the car reflects this and the lime green letters stand out. Yet, because it is written vertically, it is harder to read it. However, in places like Pottstown, P.A. or some areas in Yardley, P.A., the street sign is almost like a little box with a light inside that turns on at night. The font is increased for visibility and finding places is easy.

One of the questions that the author asks is whether the navigation in the real world affects our digital world (Morville 37). The question that I am wondering is the complete opposite. I wonder if our navigation through websites or video games somehow helps us when we drive. It is the same concept. When we are surfing the internet, we navigate through information and if we get lost we either hit the ‘back’ button or look for titles or hyperlinks on the website to go back the initial page we were on. In a video game, we may have a certain character that we have to get through a model forest or city.

People might think it is unnecessary or trivial to bother with the visual aspect when creating a sign. It is not for aesthetic appeal that the road signs are neon green or orange. It is not to make it look pretty that images are added. As you drive 25-70 miles an hour, it is easier to look at an image and have it against a bright background than for there to be a paragraph writing in a pretty light blue color for example.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/timmygunz/36397715/sizes/s/in/photostream/)

Morville, Peter. Ambient Findability. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2005. 16-42.