Frequently asked questions

In Prague, we manage an information and wayfinding system that has lacked a designer for the last 33 years; the design of the individual elements has been changed and supplemented on a random basis, and it is now inconsistent, insufficiently interlinked and the system is not fulfilling its purpose as it should. When travelling around the city, people encounter situations where they have to guess instead of instantly knowing how to get to where they want to go, and often don’t choose the fastest or most pleasant route to their destination. That’s why we need change to ensure that the information provided helps people to move around the city smoothly, safely and with confidence.

We’re not going to spend money unnecessarily on immediately replacing all elements of the wayfinding system. We will first test out the system in pilot projects, gathering feedback through user surveys conducted amongst the general public and through daily use in practice. We will gradually modify the proposals in line with this feedback, and will proceed to gradually deploy them after they have been finalised. The overall replacement process will take some time, but it was high time to get started with this. Prague is investing heavily in the construction of transport infrastructure, preparing projects such as the new Smíchov terminal or metro line D, which will also bring the need to change transport schemes not only on this line, but also on all the others. This gives us an amazing opportunity to implement a new system as part of this investment.

We tested out the graphics and their legibility on a dark background in a user survey carried out in the spring of 2023 at the Palmovka metro station and also with the SONS organisation (Czech Blind United). Most respondents appreciated how well the graphic elements contrasted with the dark background. They said the elements stand out from the dark background and are therefore easily visible and legible, even compared to the original carrier colour scheme. This was confirmed by visually-impaired respondents as well as visually unimpaired respondents. The survey findings were also confirmed by SONS. According to them, the newly proposed colour scheme, i.e. displaying information on a dark background, is satisfactory and easy to read. Detailed results of the survey can be found here.

No, it isn’t. The system is being gradually developed by modifying the design prepared by the Side2 graphic studio, A69 architekti and Superior Type for an international competition, which they won in 2022. As part of the pilot projects, we are gradually collecting feedback from everyday use and through user surveys with the general public, which are conducted the new carriers have been installed at the pilot site. Based on the results of the survey, we propose the necessary adjustments and gradually incorporate feedback from traffic and passengers into the individual elements of the system. We then retest the modified elements in other pilot locations to ensure they are easy to understand in different contexts. It is only once the pilot tests have been completed that a comprehensive manual of the entire system will be created for unified deployment throughout the entire Prague Integrated Transport network and pedestrian wayfinding systems within the individual city districts.

The competition proposals were evaluated by an international panel made up of experts in wayfinding (information and navigation systems) and city representatives. It unanimously chose this proposal, which met the demanding requirements for such a complex system. Key requirements were that the information was clearly defined and structured, legible, understandable and consistent. Nevertheless, we are testing the individual elements with users in pilot projects. We are carefully evaluating all the suggestions we receive and incorporating the results into the development of the final version of the system. This link will take you to a questionnaire enabling you to give feedback on the new elements of Legible Prague, as well as a questionnaire for getting involved in surveys with the general public.

Palmovka is the “project laboratory”, i.e. the pilot station in which we are gradually testing the requirements for the system in real operation at a specific location. In the first phase, which took place in the spring of 2023, it involved the initial collection of feedback; we will be able to test the system responsibly once all the proposed measures, including new physical carriers and a modified information deployment system, have been applied within a single interchange. Before the competition itself, however, we conducted several surveys to find out what people are most concerned about, what they don’t understand and what they think the current system is lacking. Assessment of the piloted elements makes sense on site at a scale of 1:1; comments on images on the website will not provide us with relevant information.

Surveys with the general public are conducted primarily in the field, i.e. at specific pilot locations. In this case, quantitative questions must also be asked in person, as conditions in the field (light, flicker, car rumble, people in the horizon, etc.) are essential to provide us with objective feedback on aspects such as the legibility of the graphics. In the field, we conduct in-depth qualitative surveys by accompanying carefully selected respondents, as well as quantitative surveys or polls to obtain baseline data from a larger number of people. For some elements, it may be appropriate to conduct focus groups, or guided group interviews, where we will discuss with selected respondents the possibilities of displaying information at bus stops or on vehicles.

This is an iterative process, in which we gradually some closer to the final result. After installation at the pilot site, surveys are conducted to obtain user insights, which are used to suggest any necessary modifications. We therefore gradually incorporate feedback from surveys already evaluated into the individual elements of the system and then test the modified elements again at other pilot locations. We are preparing a comprehensive survey within whole nodes such as Palmovka, where we’d like to test more elements in one place, i.e. both in the metro and on the surface. We’re also planning to modify the wayfinding system at Chodov station and install totems marking the entrances to Malostranská and Kobylisy metro stations and the Prague-Eden railway stop.

The reconstruction of stations is always planned well in advance and by the time the project documentation for the Jiřího z Poděbrad station needed to be ready, the newly designed carriers had not yet been tested. Therefore, we had to respect the fact that the new graphics will be stuck onto the existing media, even if this is not the ideal solution as regards legibility.

The individual carriers have always been placed as they are in the stations. Changing their positions would have a significant impact on the entire station, so the carriers will only be moved if stations are reconstructed or major alterations are carried out. In this particular case, another reason is the concern that placing the detailed list of stations too close to the escalator could cause passengers to gather just in front of it, which could be dangerous. However, we see the need for the station list to be closer as quite relevant and essential, so we are trying to find a solution.

This carrier is called the Dachshund due to its elongated shape, which was intended to conveniently display all the metro lines and easily fit above the carriage doors. Yet as the lines are getting longer on all sides, the shape of the dachshund makes it more and more of a challenge to include all the necessary information. The impending need to connect the new D line was the main reason for the change to the layout. However, we are still testing this version. Compared to the existing design, we’ve straightened line A, which is the shortest line in terms of the number of stations. We are wrapping the longer C and B lines around it and the vertical parts of these lines mean we save space for three stations. This allows for a far more compact diagram, but most importantly it allows us to easily add the D line while retaining the desired format. To display the stations, we work with a clearly defined grid that evenly distributes the distances between the individual points. This does not reflect the actual distances between the stations; they are merely stylized positions on each route. Another advantage of this is that Wenceslas Square can be marked as the natural centre of Prague, which could not be seen in the original diagram.

The basic “translatable” terms in English are there; local names are not translated as they are uniformly used in Czech across the city and so it would make no sense to translate them.