Culture
How to Get Your Bearings When Exiting a Subway Station
Three wayfinding cures for that sense of disorientation at the top of the stairs.
Emerging from the depths of a subway station can be disorienting. Maybe you pick the closest staircase and just head for the street. You can’t idle without getting crushed by the onslaught of fellow passengers. Once outside, you choose a direction, and then make it halfway down the block before realizing that you’re headed the wrong way.
It’s a feeling familiar to all New York City subway riders, no matter how seasoned. But a number of wayfinding designers suggest that it doesn’t have to be this way. Navigating could be easier. Here’s how: