Park signs - Boon for the crowds.

Park signs have been into existence since ages. They have just changed their versions from static, to dynamic to electronic. These are designed with a purpose to inform the visitors about the place they are visiting. It conveys the information pertaining to direction, distance, name of the place or security warnings if necessary. It is almost impossible to personally communicate people in big areas. Parks signs come handy in such situations.

Big areas like various commercial oraganizations such as factories or big corporate offices, educational institutions such as schools, colleges and libraries, public places such as hospitals and parks have a continuous arrival and departure of thousands of daily visitors. They have to be informed about the mundane information such as directions to various units, wards such as car parking, washrooms, enquiry counter and the list goes on and on.

The best way to keep all of them informed simultaneously is through park signs. These are located on prominent locations such as entrance, corridors and on every floor, doors etc. The designing and placement of park signs comes under the systems thinking approach used while constructing such public places. It depends on how big the place is. What amount of information to be conveyed, which areas need educating the visitors and which don't. It is easier to plan for small places. But where the crowds are in overwhelming numbers it is even advisable to use electric sign boards which may switch the information from time to time. Especially places like railway stations, stock markets and airports have to display dynamic messages which may change almost every minute.

Thus even determining what technology should be used is also an important factor while considering park signs. Some places are also worth describing such as museums. Here the park signs are more descriptive than anywhere else. You can find similar park signs in zoos, exhibitions, botanical gardens, historical monuments informing about the animals, flowers, places and people respectively. This saves on a lot of costs and man-hours. You can just refer to the signs and know every thing you want to know about the place you have visited. It may also happen that some places which not considered initially may need consideration after some time. Thus park signs need to be continuously revisited, reconstructed and placed newly in some areas whenever and wherever necessary. The best way to find these critical areas is to take a feedback from the visitors while they leave the place. You may ask them whether they are satisfied with the existing park signs or find them insufficient or inappropriate in some form or the other. People enjoy sharing their experiences with the management and if they find the place really interesting. It even satisfies their ego and may breed customer loyalty in them. This enables the management to make a free survey. It may also be helpful if the people are informed about the feedback forms or counter just while they enter the place so that they may be vigilant about any kind of shortfalls they come across and not miss out upon any detail.