nottingham navigator

Streetwise Orientation and Navigations Systems Ltd (Streetwise) won the tender to develop a pedestrian navigation system for Nottingham City Council, one part of its Parksmart initiative. Parksmart is an integrated scheme to help visitors select the right car park, connect easily with the city’s integrated public transport system and explore the city on foot. Streetwise has developed a wayfinding system involving a network of mapping and information points, both on street and in car parks across the city centre.

The Nottingham Navigator units designed by Streetwise have been developed to incorporate the City’s existing fingerpost system.

Nottingham Navigator

Nottingham Navigator is made up of two parts – information panels and signposts, which together make a network across the city centre. There are 29 information panels and 30 signposts, at key points in the city’s streets to help you find places of interest.

The information panels show maps and information about the area around you. One side of the information panel will always display a large ParkSmart city centre zone map which will help you to find your way around. On the other side you will find information about the local area around you, plus a more detailed local area map.

The signposts are located throughout the city to point you to key destinations across the city centre and they also appear on top of the information panels as well.

The system also includes over 30 displays in key car parks and free maps are available from tourist information centres.

“The key to developing these systems is to think like a visitor and understand their real needs and mindset when visiting somewhere, especially for the first time” says Peter McGrail, Director of Streetwise.

”In developing the system for Nottingham we considered fully the objectives stated by the client, the character of the City and how to engage with its visitors. The headings used are set as if asked by the user ‘Where can I find’ is set above the list of points of interest, for example. It is vital to quickly make the user trust the system, presenting a wide range of information in an easily digestible form is therefore key”.