Walking through the space looking for the rooms

This first walkthrough was conducted between 16:40 and 17:02. It was cloudy outside. In front of the main entrance are the express elevators. Signage need to be put there to make sure people know they only go to the 5th floor. There should also be signs to tell people to either take the stairs or go to the back for the regular elevators which can take them to the 2nd floor. On the 2nd floor, after several false starts, I found room 284: It was the room where I went to that strange presentation where everyone seemed to be a professor. Room 287 was at the end of the corridor. The corridor was not particularly well lit, but it was lit, by fluorescent lighting. Both 284 and 287 looked like board rooms, and they are both labelled “Conference Centre”s. As far as I remember 284 was not particularly well lit. From the entrance of the corridor no room signs were visible, though people would not get lost because the corridor is only one-way. Room 280, the balcony level of the auditorium is on the right, on the opposite side of room 284. If I exited from the auditorium, I would be able to see room 284 if told that’s room 284, and I might see room 287 if told to look through the window in the door to my right. There was a washroom right beside room 287, but it was locked. On the 5th floor, if I exited the express elevators, went through the corridors, then straight through the large open space, and continued into the corridor of the “Teknion Environmental Design Centre,” room 556 would be on my left (after passing room 558), within a space that was adequately lit by fluorescent lighting. Walking through the meandering corridor I could see no room signs, but at the dead end was a squarish open space, with an imposing-looking security camera staring right at you, and on my left was room 556. Continuing straight a bit more into the space, room 550 was to my right. The open space, and thus the signage for 556 and 550, were very well lit by natural lighting. Both Room 556 and 554 were labelled “Teknion Environmental Design Centre / Studio.” Room 550 was labelled “Industrial Design Centre / Studio.” This corridor was perceived to be one-way, though there was actually a staircase down near room 554. People can’t really get lost, though they would probably still feel a bit frustrated due to the lack of signage telling them where the rooms are.

Initial observations

• Room numbers are (just as I remembered it) not in a logical sequential order—starting from the elevator, we eventually reach a point where room numbers go backwards from 556 to 554 then 550
• Room signs are not really visible until you find the room
• Directions are not obvious
• People might run into locked washrooms

Stuff to work on, “known unknowns”

• Participant flow
  • Is there a possibility that a participant would go from the 2nd floor to the 5th floor, or vice versa? In other words, will any two break-out sessions run one after the other, without a “going back to the auditorium” in between?
  • Is lunch catered? If so where is it held?
• Ambient lighting conditions
  • How does sunlight fall into the open space on the 5th floor? Would that affect signage legibility?
• Maps on the web site
  • “System map”—OCAD (100 McCaul: do we need 49 at this scale?) + hotel + Massey College (+ TTC stations + main streets)
  • 100 McCaul + 49 McCaul
  • Schematic of how to move through the 1st, 2nd, and 5th floors
  • Navigating the 2nd and 5th floors, with reference to washroom locations
  • “Verbal map” versions of the above for people who can’t read graphical maps
  • Link to the official campus map PDF’s for the main building and, if necessary, 49 McCaul.
• How much budget do we have?
• Should we have a list of sessions posted on signage?