Wayfinding Gap Analysis
Following user complaints and a court-led survey highlighting ongoing wayfinding issues, the ACT Law Courts engaged us to conduct a targeted Gap Analysis: identify what’s going wrong, understand the impact on staff and users, and provide a clear path forward.
The ACT Law Courts had recently moved into a new, purpose-built facility that brings together the Magistrates and Supreme Courts. While the architecture is impressive, we were surprised by the poor performance of the wayfinding signage. Designed by a company for whom beauty must have been more important than functionality, the signs were difficult to read and failed to provide users with the clarity they needed.
Project
ACT Law Courts
Client
ACT Law Courts
Collaborators
Location
Canberra, ACT, Australia
Size
Project Build Cost
Focus
We spent a full week on site, observing user behaviour, conducting staff interviews, and assessing the physical and operational environment in detail. Our work went far beyond signage. We examined the full wayfinding experience—pre-visit communication, in-person interaction, architectural clarity, and the legibility and reliability of directional information.
The findings were consistent and significant. From illegible signs and inconsistent terminology to confusing jurisdictional boundaries between the Supreme and Magistrates Courts, the current system didn’t support a clear, confident user journey. Pre-visit information was outdated. Onsite directions were often missing, misleading, or difficult to interpret. Courtroom numbers were duplicated across jurisdictions. Paths for vulnerable users, such as applicants and respondents, intersected in ways that caused unnecessary stress.
We also identified hidden costs. Staff were regularly diverted from their roles to provide directions, and many users reported feeling confused or disoriented—hardly the experience you want in a place that’s already stressful by nature.
Our report laid out a clear set of next steps: improve legibility, provide consistent information at every touchpoint, and take a holistic view of the wayfinding system—one that supports architecture, operations, and user needs equally. These insights can serve as the foundation for broader improvements at the ACT Law Courts, ensuring that future changes are strategic, evidence-based, and grounded in real user behaviour.
