In NYC and other dense transit systems, unclear wayfinding and heavy foot traffic make movement through stations slow, confusing, and unsafe, especially during peak travel times. When people cannot quickly interpret signs and spatial cues, crowding increases, delays ripple across the system, and public spaces become harder to navigate equitably.

How might we use robotics-inspired movement thinking and community art to design clearer, more engaging subway wayfinding that helps NYC riders move through crowded stations with less confusion? Students will investigate how the way we make things matters as much as what we make by studying rider flow, revising ideas through critique, and using environmentally conscious art-making practices. Their solution will take the form of a before-and-after station flow map, a signage proposal, and a short presentation for feedback from an authentic audience such as MTA Arts & Design.

MTA Arts & Design in New York City could serve as the primary learning partner and client by reviewing student prototypes for subway-facing signage and wayfinding concepts tied to rider movement and station clarity. Students can also look to NYC subway riders as an authentic public audience whose movement patterns, confusion points, and feedback shape the before-and-after station flow maps and signage proposals. These partners connect directly to the project’s real-world challenge and give students a concrete audience for critique, revision, and presentation.