Design e desenvolvimento de projeto de sinalização viária urbana

Abstract

Complaints against the existing traffic signage in Rio de Janeiro are common. The city is still the gateway to Brazil and the preferred destination of visitors. Within a short time, the Rio will host major international sports events and there is concern about how the city can offer guidance to tourists that it will transit there. This study tries to find out what are, in fact, the reasons for the incessant complaints against installed signage and then attempts to draw guidelines that can be applied to projects of signage systems that effectively address the problems of orientation of users. For that, we sought at first to map the historical context in which has evolved traffic signage; then we examined whether it involves the development of signage projects in general. The next step was to focus on traffic signs issues. There were two surveys: the first, from individual structured interviews with taxi drivers, who are "heavy users" of streets and signage. The population selected was composed by 19 cabbies that usually stand by Praça Santos Dumont, located in the south of the city, and an important traffic junction. The second involved five professional designers who have previous experience in developping projects of signage systems. With this group, "Think Aloud Protocol" technique was used: each of these individuals was monitored and documented while driving and guided by a signage path that goes from the aforementioned Praça Santos Dumont to the Maracanã Stadium, set in the northern part of the city, and used to be a preferred destination for sporting events. The results of the two surveys were analyzed and the extracted guidelines are presented in the Conclusions, which pursue system effectiveness through clear messages, legible text, appropriate placement and formal stability aiming recognition and understanding by the user.