Signages in India

Why India Ignores Signage

I was at a prestigious IT event today — the Bengaluru Tech Summit. Held at the Bangalore Palace, the show boasted hundreds of speakers, exhibitors, and discussion topics.

What it did not boast of was something far more basic: useful signage.

A Tech Summit Without Directions

It took me a while to figure out where I needed to go, and even that happened only after asking a few people around. There were halls, entry points, and activity zones — but very little guidance on how to reach them.

At an event celebrating innovation and future thinking, the absence of something as fundamental as wayfinding was both ironic and revealing.

This Is Not an Exception

I do not blame the organisers alone. This is not a one-off oversight. It is a familiar Indian trait — a consistent undervaluing of signage.

You see it everywhere: roads, railway stations, airports, government offices, large residential complexes, hospitals, and campuses that span acres.

Places are built. Infrastructure is inaugurated. People are expected to simply figure things out.

The Assumption Behind the Neglect

Perhaps we assume that people are smart enough to find their way. Or that asking around is part of the experience. Or that confusion is a minor inconvenience not worth planning for.

But good signage is not about intelligence. It is about empathy.

Signage as a Form of Empathy

Clear signs acknowledge that people may be unfamiliar, anxious, in a hurry, elderly, disabled, or simply tired. They remove friction from movement and decision-making.

When signage is absent or poorly designed, we externalise the burden of navigation onto individuals. Confusion becomes normalised, and inefficiency is accepted as inevitable.

Design That Begins Too Late

In many Indian projects, signage is treated as an afterthought — something to be added once construction is complete, budgets are exhausted, and attention has moved elsewhere.

In reality, wayfinding should be integral to design, not decorative. A place is not complete until it can be navigated without assistance.

A Small Thing That Reveals a Bigger Problem

Poor signage may seem trivial, but it reflects a deeper issue: a tendency to prioritise scale over usability, spectacle over experience.

Until we begin designing spaces with the assumption that no one should have to ask for directions, we will continue to confuse functionality with intelligence — and neglect with efficiency.