Route Interfaces
How walkers see, feel, and interact with digital routes — from maps and turn-by-turn to exploratory and playful designs.
How walkers see, feel, and interact with digital routes — from maps and turn-by-turn to exploratory and playful designs.
Route interfaces are where algorithms meet experience. They translate complex spatial data into navigable forms that walkers can use, interpret, and trust. Yet they are not neutral: every design choice — from colour scheme to level of detail — influences how walkers understand and interact with their environment. Interfaces can invite curiosity, support mindfulness, or narrow focus solely to efficiency.
Traditional interfaces centre on maps: a blue line drawn across a static base. But walking is more fluid, embodied, and contextual. Alternatives include step-by-step prompts, narrative guidance (“turn left at the bakery”), or abstracted visuals that emphasise qualities over geometry (e.g. colour-coded serenity, icons for heritage stops). Designing route interfaces means choosing what to reveal, what to hide, and how to frame walking as an activity.
For leisure walking, interfaces can support exploration rather than optimisation. They may use randomness to highlight alternative routes, provide playful affordances (badges, prompts, stories), or even encourage “getting lost safely” by downplaying strict instructions. These designs shift the walker’s relationship with space from transactional navigation to experiential engagement.