About the project

The journey to a Legible Prague

	BASICS OF PRAGUE TRAFFIC NAVIGATION The Prague Metro opened in 1974. The graphic design of the individual navigation elements was the work of artists such as Rostislav Vaněk and Jiří Rathouský, whose iconic metro sign can still be seen today, with only minor changes.		THE BIGGEST GRAPHIC COMPETITION OF ALL TIME In April 2021, Czechdesign begin the demanding preparations for an international competition featuring multidisciplinary teams from all over the world.
	A SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN HALF A CENTURY IN THE MAKING However, Vaněk’s timeless design has never been fully implemented and now, after more than 30 years, it is no longer suitable as a reliable wayfinding system in a modern major city. Discussions on how to revise are therefore launched in 2017.		THE CZECH TEAM DID WELL IN THE FACE OF INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION A year later, the winning design by the Czech team, the Side2 graphic design studio, A69 architekti and the typeface company Superior Type, is presented in April 2022.
	A NEW PRAGUE WAYFINDING SYSTEM IS EMERGING In November 2019, a feasibility study mapping the requirements for the new Prague wayfinding system is presented at CAMP in Prague.		THE JOURNEY TO A LEGIBLE PRAGUE From the autumn of the same year, we test out the new graphics on half of the carriers in the Palmovka metro station. You can encounter the Prague Pedestrian, a guide to getting around on foot, on the obelisk and directional sign tested in Holešovice since this July.

 

Our Team

Who is behind Legible Prague?

The project is administered on behalf of the city by ROPID in close cooperation with other municipal companies (the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP), the Prague Institute of Planning and Development, the City of Prague Technical Road Administration, Prague City Communications, Prague City Tourism, Operátor ICT and selected departments of Prague City Hall). In addition to the permanent participants making up the working group, the members involved also mediate the opinions of the relevant professional staff or departments in specific cases.

The implementation study for the unified information system for ROPID was prepared by a consortium of Ernst&Young, PRO CEDOP and Beef Brothers in cooperation with experts from CTU and Germany.

The graphic design competition was organised by Czechdesign, which continues to work with us to raise awareness and promote Legible Prague. The winner of the competition for the design of Legible Prague was the Side2 studio in collaboration with A69 architekti and the typeface company Superior Type.

The Legible Prague project team, led by ROPID and in close cooperation with other organisations of the City of Prague (Prague Public Transit Company (DPP), the Prague Institute of Planning and Development, Operátor ICT, Prague City Tourism, the City of Prague Technical Road Administration, Prague City Communications, Prague City Technology, as well as the individual departments of Prague City Hall, the Central Bohemian Region – Integrated Transport of the Central Bohemia Region and also the Railway Administration) subjects prototypes of new elements not only to technical resistance tests in the physical environment, but also to a series of user surveys conducted amongst the general public. We are interested in what Prague residents and visitors to the city think of these new elements, especially in terms of how easy they are to read and understand and, above all, their functionality in the broader context of the individual locations.

Palmovka survey

As part of the Legible Prague project, a user survey was conducted amongst the general public at Palmovka metro station in spring 2023. We focused on pilot designs for the system applied midway through this station on existing carriers. The aim of the survey was to carry out an in-depth investigation into how users find their way around the Prague public transport system, evaluate the accessibility, usability, legibility, visibility and clarity of the carrier graphic designs from a user perspective, but also to determine the appropriate location for each individual carrier in relation to critical places in the space or to identify any excess or missing information on the carriers.

Palmovka is the “project laboratory”, the pilot station where we’ll be gradually testing all the elements of the new wayfinding system for this large interchange. In spring this year, we conducted an initial survey to get feedback about the wayfinding system in the middle of the metro station. The qualitative survey, which involved almost a hundred respondents, combined two methods to obtain the widest possible feedback. These included in-depth interviews with a carefully selected representative sample of respondents, i.e. accompanied visits, and observations of natural passenger behaviour with targeted questions.

Overall, the white and yellow font against the dark background was confirmed as being legible and a good contrast. This was also backed up by representatives of the blind and partially sighted from the SONS organisation. However, the use of grey for the additional texts was something of a problem. Suggestions included coming up with a new way of marking the wheelchair accessibility of stations, as well as the legibility of the metro diagram at the station entrance. There were also recurring complaints about the location of the carrier showing the full list of stations (“thermometer”) far beyond the entrance to the platform, which is where people decide which side to take.

“On the basis of these findings, we have modified the basic directional boards for the reconstructed Jiřího z Poděbrad station that show the way to the individual directions of the metro journey, and created two modified versions of the thermometer and a completely new “vertical thermometer”. The schematic map of the metro has also been modified, which we are now testing with the new detail of the centre in selected carriages,” says Tomáš Machek of the Side2 design studio.

Detailed results of the survey can be found by clicking this link.

HolKa survey

In autumn this year we piloted the pedestrian wayfinding elements by the new Štvanice Footbridge. The survey was conducted in front of the Holešovice Market Hall, where our pollsters conducted in-depth interviews with a carefully selected representative sample of respondents to determine whether the obelisk and directional sign were as effective as they should be. They were particularly interested in seeing whether the information was legible and easy to understand, but also if the elements were in a suitable place and clearly visible.

“At the Palmovka metro station we went through the pilot graphic designs for the wayfinding system in the metro with carefully selected respondents. This autumn we continued our user survey in a completely new context of the wayfinding system by the Štvanice Footbridge. Once again, our goal was to ensure that the final design of the elements was inclusive, i.e. that it provided accessible, understandable and reliable information for all users. Therefore, even before the survey in Holešovice, we carefully selected respondents and created a diverse range of scenarios, which allowed us to gain specific insights from all user groups,” says Dominika Potužáková, head of the survey team at Bohemia design & research.

Detailed results of the survey can be found by clicking this link.

Upcoming surveys

“We will continue our surveys with passengers in the coming months. The next survey is being prepared at the newly opened Jiřího z Poděbrad metro station, and we’ll also be returning to Palmovka, where we’ll be testing most of the elements of the extensive new information system, including piloting new physical media that will highlight information more clearly and make it more legible. We will also conduct user tests on the new form of digital information in carriages as well as printed information at stops,” says Petr Tomčík, ROPID director, explaining the plans for the user tests.

You can get involved in the survey, too.

Anyone willing to help us on our way to a Legible Prague can get involved in the development of Prague’s new wayfinding system. Passengers can easily give us their suggestions, criticism and compliments via an online questionnaire, which can be found by clicking this link: I want to give feedback.

For those who have the desire and space to become a respondent in one of the next professional surveys conducted amongst the general public, a recruitment questionnaire has been prepared, which can be found by clicking this link: I want to be a respondent of Legible Prague.

We would like to sincerely thank all those who provide us with feedback, and especially those who take the time to participate in one of the surveys. Depending on the scope of the specific surveys, we have rewards for participants such as gift packages or vouchers for leading Czech e-shops.

And what comes next?

After the evaluation of the individual surveys, led by the Bohemia design & research team, experts in UX design and research in public space, the data will be reflected in final adjustments to the design and content of the elements, which will then be placed throughout Prague.

In collaboration with the individual city districts, we are preparing a plan to place other obelisks and directional signs in Prague 7, around the entrances to the Palackého náměstí, Palmovka and Háje metro stations, and last but not least for the pilot route from Staroměstské náměstí to the Holešovice Exhibition Grounds. We are also awaiting expert surveys with the general public for these planned pilot elements and the comprehensive route. Some obelisks and directional signs should be appearing in these locations this year, and we plan to install all them in the pilot locations within the next year to enable us to start gradually implementing the system throughout Prague from 2025.