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---

## At a glance

- **Client**: Polaris Maps (independent cartographic publisher)
- **Year**: 2024
- **Role**: Design researcher and wayfinding designer
- **Duration**: 16 weeks (4-month engagement, 3 days/week)
- **Team**: Me + 2 in-house cartographers + 1 print production lead

## The problem

Polaris publishes city walking maps for tourism boards. Each map has its own visual style set by the destination. But customers (tourism boards, hotel chains) wanted the same *wayfinding* symbols across every map. They needed one shared set for "viewpoint," "step-free entrance," "drinking water," and more.

## What I did

**Field research.** Spent 4 days walking with map users in Edinburgh, Bath, and Galway. Noted where they paused, checked the legend, or asked someone for help. In total: 312 wayfinding choices across 23 walks.

**Symbol audit.** Listed every wayfinding symbol Polaris had ever used (218 total). Cut them to 47 key symbols. Of those, 34 were already used the same way in over 70% of maps. The other 13 were the design problem.

**Symbol design.** Worked with the cartography team for 8 weeks. We tested each symbol with print proofs and user tests. The final set scored 93% recognition with 24 new users, up from 64%.

**Documentation.** Wrote a 28-page wayfinding standard that Polaris now ships to every new design team. It is light on theory and full of examples. It shows the rejected versions of every symbol with a note on what failed.

## Outcome

- Standard adopted on all new Polaris maps since launch (14 maps in 8 months)
- Tourist info centres in Edinburgh and Bath report fewer "where is X" questions thanks to clearer symbols
- Polaris won a 2025 European Cartographic Award for the wayfinding standard
