Critique of a Public Space - Crossgates Mall

This is a picture of the front Crossgates mall

Crossgates mall is one of the biggest malls in the Capital Region of NY and very popular for the area. There is other malls in the Area such as Latham Square, Colonie Center and Clifton Park Center but Crossgates seems to the centralized being that it is in Albany. 

http://www.shopcrossgates.com/index.php?page=directory-map

The above link can actually tell you what the reference codes are on the floor plan above

Crossgates' basic setup is simple yet elegant. It is design to be open to allow for visual stimulation when looking around to decide where to shop or just take the guided tour that besets you. Like all malls there are a plethora of shops to navigate to. The mall itself has 2 floors and is setup in an east to west type fashion.  The top of the 2 images above is located near the movie theater. The graphic design that particular wing is  to allow for gazing over the railing and seeing what is playing in the movies along with the times also to help draw focus to the tiling on the floor. The area above the ticket booths is very large and open to allow all of that to happen. 

The above image is displays an escalator which is located in 3 spots within the mall, east wing, west wing and middle of the mall near the food court. There are also steps in between each of the escalators to help with quicker travel instead of walking to a escalator to get up. In the middle near the middle escalator there is also an elevator for "lazy people" ;-) and handicapped individuals. Though escalators can be consider just as lazy, I suppose it would be a case to case basis. 

Located throughout the mall located with the busy walking areas are directories that can provider an information map for people that need to find out where they need to go. It also can create a mental map for individuals that are familiar with the mall itself. very helpful

Lastly, throughout the mall are advertisements posted on the back of the above directories, hanging in the middle area suspended for everyone including both floors. The signage is big enough to catch the eye of anyone scanning the area for pleasantries. The store signage is all flashy and eye catching but still sticks to the orientation of the brand label of that particular store IE Old Navy as seen in this picture. There are signs throughout the whole mall indicating where to go if you are lost, have issues, need to report something stolen, etc. In most cases the mall itself has almost everything covered. As far as what could be done differently design wise is the middle booths on the bottom floor. Sometimes there are multiples of the same booth throughout the mall and can be a bit obnoxious when passing them. There can be so many center booths that it can almost make the customers feel overwhelmed and feel pressed to buy something. When a customer goes to the mall they are there for an experience whether it's just to walk about and take in the surroundings or just to get to a store and get out. They do not need to be overwhelm with all the information available. The point of information design is to make it very plausible for a customer to enjoy their experience at Crossgates mall.

Secondary Design Tool

In information we need to utilize many tools to be successful and maintain the interest of the party we are doing the project for. These tools can vary from something very simple like the SQVID tool that I previously talked about to some version of a concept map. Concept maps in whole can allow someone to help generate ideas, easily manipulate complex structures such as in-depth websites, help combine older ideas with newer ones, as well as help walk someone through the understanding of the main concept and whats stems from it.

Above is an example of a negotiation concept and its inner workings. The map allows you to see things clearly without losing the key point behind each stem or leaf. Something like this is similar to a stem and leaf plot from Math. The only issue that I see with something like this is that you do not want the information as a whole to overpower the main thought by having or expressing too much information. The whole purpose of information design is to make it presentable and understandable to the client. Concepts are a great tool to help to do that.

As far as using this in a blog/my blog, it's implication is actually built in to the design tool. You as the user choose how to setup the blog and rearrange it according to how you like it and how you think people will like it. This in turn in a concept map at it's very base level. This kind of design tool is very helpful. Anyone remember when stuff like this didn't even exist? Have fun explaining that information to someone without it ;-)

Ref.
http://designing.flexiblelearning.net.au/gallery/activities/conceptmap_a.htm