Toward Wayminding
摘要
The term wayfinding has accumulated meanings since introduced by Paul Lynch. To differentiate the role of the designer from the user in navigation, Per Mollerup coined the term wayshowing. Designers wayshow while users wayfind. Mollerup also introduced waylosing to describe the disorientation that results from ineffective wayshowing. These concepts extend beyond physical navigation and apply to design education, particularly in an era where artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly replicates human design patterns. As AI advances, it becomes imperative for educators to emphasize cognitive skills that AI cannot easily replicate. This paper introduces wayminding, a habit of mind that actively integrates curiosity, serendipity, and meaning-making into design processes. Wayminding prioritizes curiosity as a guiding principle. The paper argues that AI lacks the ability to convincingly duplicate wayminding, as it cannot meaningfully engage in accidents, serendipitous discovery, or bricolage. The paper explores how serendipitous waylosing, rather than being an impediment, can serve as a catalyst for curiosity and innovation. By integrating waylosing with wayminding, design educators can cultivate an approach that enables students to navigate uncertainty productively. The paper concludes with reflective design exercises that demonstrate practical ways these concepts can be infused into the curriculum, equipping students with adaptive, curiosity-driven problem-solving skills that remain uniquely human.