2026 SEGD Voices | The Science of Wayfinding

The Science of Wayfinding: Psychology strategy and navigation in large-scale environments

The Wayfinding and Experiential Graphics PPG Chairs, Daniela Pilossof, Amy Rees, and Sam Pease, host this month’s Voices webinar. Our hosts welcome Jonathan Mugmon, Principal of Populous as this month’s presenter.

Wayfinding is inherently multidisciplinary, bringing together people from graphic design, architecture, interior design, industrial design, landscape architecture, planning, and other fields. Each person enters the profession with a strong but partial understanding of the work and must learn its other dimensions over time. This variety of backgrounds is one of the profession’s greatest strengths, creating opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, and shared learning across disciplines.

This presentation explores why Jonathan Mugmon organized Populous’ wayfinding team into specialized areas of expertise, which allows each person to focus on the work they enjoy and do best. Rather than expecting everyone to wear every hat, from planning and strategy through design, documentation, and implementation. This organization encourages collaboration across projects and draws upon each other’s strengths. This approach helps individuals develop deeper expertise, creates greater consistency in our work, and allows the team to manage more projects by matching the right people and skills to each phase.

About the Speaker

Jonathan Mugmon is a principal at a global design firm, where he leads wayfinding strategy and design for complex venues and destinations around the world. With more than two decades of experience, he specializes in understanding user behavior, circulation, and movement to create intuitive, human centered navigation systems that improve the visitor experience. His portfolio includes projects for the Olympic Games, Super Bowl, SoFi Stadium, Climate Pledge Arena, the Las Vegas Sphere, Wrigley Field, Google Headquarters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Legible London, and numerous major sports venues, convention centers, and urban environments worldwide. Jonathan is also the author of the forthcoming book The Science of Wayfinding (Routledge, 2026), which explores the psychology, planning, and design principles behind successful wayfinding systems. At the SEGD Conference, he will present insights from his research and introduce the concepts behind his new book, offering attendees practical strategies for creating more intuitive and user centered environments.

About 2026 SEGD Voices

Curated by the chairs of SEGD’s Professional Practice Groups, the 2026 SEGD Voices webinar series reflects SEGD’s commitment to advancing professional excellence and knowledge-sharing across the discipline. With a focus on Digital and Interactive Media, Museum Exhibition and Experience Design, and Wayfinding and Experiential Graphics, the series offers accessible, practice-oriented tools and perspectives. Each session provides peer-driven insights, creating a shared foundation for exploring emerging methods, technologies, and approaches shaping contemporary experiential design. The 2026 SEGD Voices series is free and open to all as part of SEGD’s ongoing commitment to professional learning, knowledge sharing, and community connection.

SEGD Professional Practice Group Chairs:

• Digital and Media: Nathan Lachenmyer (Sitara Systems), Sara Smith (RLMG), and Judith Zissman (Blue Telescope).
• Museum Exhibition: Vivian Combariza, Megan Dickerson (Birch Aquarium at Scripps), George Mayer (Consultant), and Steven Rosen (Available Light)
• Wayfinding and Experiential Graphics: Daniela Pilossof (DePerla Design) and Amy Rees (Exit Design)

SEGD is uniquely positioned to lead these conversations, with more than 2,200 members across multiple areas of practice around the globe, contributing diverse expertise and real-world experience. This series brings together voices from across the community to highlight innovative practices, practical strategies, and evolving standards within these three practice areas. Whether you’re looking to strengthen your digital and interactive work, deepen your approach to exhibition and experience design, or expand your understanding of wayfinding and experiential graphics, these sessions are designed to inform, inspire, and support your professional growth.