What You Can’t Afford to Learn Too Late

In airports, railway stations, law courts, and other complex environments, design decisions directly affect real-life outcomes. That’s why we don’t leave usability to chance. At Humanics Collective, testing is built into our process. It’s how we turn good design into systems that actually work.

Human-Centred Means Evidence-Informed

Our work is grounded in Environmental Psychology and behavioural design. We don’t guess how people will behave. We study it. Whether it’s through on-site walkthroughs, VR simulations, or targeted comprehension tests, we make sure the system supports real-world use.

Testing helps us confirm clarity, identify friction points, and fix problems while it’s still easy and affordable to do so.

Testing Reduces Risk

When testing happens during design, it saves everyone time, money, and stress. It allows:

• Early identification of gaps

• Clearer decision-making

• Fewer surprises later

• Greater confidence in the final result

  
  

It also avoids costly design mistakes that only become obvious once the system is installed and in use. Testing gives project teams the chance to validate their decisions before construction is finalised, when it’s still easy to change direction without major impact on budget, timelines, or public trust.

This is especially critical in large public infrastructure projects. In these settings, decision-makers carry a high level of responsibility and scrutiny. Testing provides assurance that the system has been assessed, validated, and optimised through a structured, evidence-based process. It’s a way to demonstrate due diligence, strengthen governance, and reduce the risk of public backlash or operational failure.

When projects skip this step or delay it until the very end, the consequences are predictable. Environments open to the public that are confusing, inefficient, or inaccessible. Operational teams forced to compensate. Expensive fixes that attract public criticism. Once things go wrong in use, every adjustment becomes visible, political, and expensive—especially in the public sector. Testing during design helps avoid that visibility for all the right reasons.

Better Before Than After

The least effective moment to identify issues with user flow, navigation, or overall spatial experience is after opening day. By then, any change is a retrofit. That’s why testing needs to happen during the design process—when insights can still lead to meaningful improvements.

When the public walks through the doors, the environment must already support movement, understanding, and confidence. It needs to work for all users, across different scenarios, without explanation or adjustment.

Good environments don't just happen. They’re validated. And testing is what makes that possible.

Case in Point: Wyndham Law Courts

A good example of this approach is our work on the Wyndham Law Courts with Court Services Victoria. We tested and validated the entire wayfinding system before the building opened. This included pictograms, terminology, placement, and navigation paths, all based on real user journeys.

Adjustments were made during construction while changes were still simple and cost-effective. These refinements ensured the system would support users from day one—without disruption, delay, or doubt.

You can read more about the Wyndham Law Courts project in our case studies section.