Wayfinding on large-format touchscreens

Context

Mappedin's Digital Directory runs on 55- to 65-inch touchscreens in thousands of malls, including the Toronto Eaton Centre and Hudson Yards. In the legacy product, a static store list filled the screen and the map was secondary, so shoppers got lost on multi-floor routes.

Old directory and map-centered home screen explorations

Hardware prototyping and usability testing

We built coded HTML/CSS/JS prototypes and tested them with shoppers on real 65-inch displays. Three findings shaped the design.

Orientation tooltip (USD871423)

Shoppers often found a store and then walked off in the wrong direction. Anchoring an orientation tooltip at the start of the route, with QR and SMS handoff to the phone, showed them which way to face.

Controls first-time users could find

Most shoppers use a directory once, so nothing could depend on learning the interface. In testing, people missed useful behaviors like tapping the map for context or using anchor labels. Seeing the prototype on the actual displays also changed our assumptions about type size, touch targets, and how much information to show at once. We made those controls more visible and retested on the hardware until first-time users found them on their own.

Separate accessibility modes

Testing with wheelchair users and parents with strollers led us to separate High/Low Screen Reach, which moves controls into the bottom 40% of the screen, from Step-Free Elevator Routing. Both were part of passing a third-party ADA and WCAG 2.1 AA audit.

Planning research scenarios and running in-person usability tests

Wireframes for a contextual menu and an early coded prototype

Low-fidelity component, keyboard, and reach-zone interaction explorations

Visual design tests and live hardware calibration for the large-format interface

What we shipped

A full-screen map with separate accessibility toggles

The 3D map became the default view, with one-tap toggles for lowered controls and elevator routing.

Map-first directory home and location experience

Lowered controls in High/Low reach mode and independent accessible route preferences

Search and location details on the directory

Stacked multi-floor routes and venue ads

Stacked 3D floor views let shoppers see a multi-level route at a glance before walking away. Separately, Directory Ads through Broadsign and sponsored search results brought 20% more retailer traffic and 155% more holiday clicks without crowding the wayfinding task.

Venue events and advertising integrated into the directory

Stacked maps showing a route across multiple floors

Final notes

Testing on real 65-inch hardware showed what mattered most on a large public screen: physical reach, controls a first-time user can find, and knowing which way to walk. Visual polish came after those.

After I moved into product management, I worked with a new product designer on a UI refresh and helped launch voice control, Broadsign ad integration, and machine-learning-powered smart search.