Siya Jain Product + UX Designer Let’s Connect
  • Service Design
  • Wayfinding Strategy

Guiding the world through Atlanta’s Last Mile

Role
UX Lead
Timeline
10 weeks · 2026
Client
Atlanta Host Committee
The Atlanta skyline seen through the word ATLANTA, with THE EPICENTER below.

Problem

Around 300,000 fans, most from outside Georgia, will pour into the same downtown streets in the same 90 minutes, all asking one question: which way do I go?

Solution

A wayfinding strategy for the Last Mile: mapped routes and friction points, and three zones that decide what every sign says and where it stands.

Impact

The framework for Atlanta’s 8 World Cup matches, built with students across SCAD majors and carried into production.

Now in production: see the Last Mile signage live in Atlanta.

See it live ↗

This page is walked like the Last Mile. Watch the marker in the corner: it counts down to the stadium as the page moves through the three zones I designed.

01 · The Challenge

Moving 300,000 Fans to the Stadium

It’s a city pulled toward one magnetic moment. With Atlanta United’s record crowds, U.S. Soccer’s new headquarters and an NWSL expansion team, Atlanta is becoming “Soccer Town, USA.” For eight matches, it becomes the epicenter of global soccer.

~300K
unique spectators across the 8 World Cup matches in Atlanta
75%
will travel from outside Georgia, from other states or other countries
1 mile
between the Fan Festival and the stadium, through downtown streets

Matchday clock

T–3:00 to kickoff

Early

The first fans trickle in. The streets are still calm.

Core tension

“Which way do I go?”

When tens of thousands of first-time visitors ask the same question at the same moment, the Last Mile, the final walk from transit, hotels and the Fan Festival to the gates, becomes the highest-risk zone of the event.

The ask

Design a safe, engaging, FIFA-compliant Last Mile framework that ensures smooth crowd movement while delivering a world-class fan journey that celebrates Atlanta’s identity.
From the Atlanta Host Committee. We answered it with two goals: clarity and engagement.

02 · In the Street

Walk the Last Mile

From the station exit to the stadium gates, with every sign where the strategy put it. Scroll to walk the Last Mile: the street stays in line drawing, so only our signage carries color.

Zone 1 · Orientation

Five Points Station Exit

Out of the station, fans need one thing first: which way is the stadium.

03 · Research

Lessons From Past Events

We analyzed three recent mega-events, the Super Bowl in Atlanta, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022 and Russia 2018, and pulled out what actually moved people.

  1. 01Super Bowl, Atlanta
  2. 02FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022
  3. 03FIFA World Cup, Russia 2018
93%
movement accuracy in Qatar 2022 when digital and physical signage were integrated and monitored in real time
40%
less backtracking and stopping when wayfinding is clear and unambiguous
23%
more navigation errors when people can’t find their next direction within 3 seconds
2–3 km
from venues, FIFA events needed temporary city-wide wayfinding to keep crowds flowing

Pre-Game vs. Post-Game

Focused · Converging · On the clock

Fan behavior

  • Fans move with clear intent and anticipation.
  • Movement speeds up once the destination is visible.
  • Groups accept density if movement feels continuous.
  • Hesitation happens at transitions: exits, crossings and security.

Flow risk

  • Transitions disrupt walking rhythm.
  • Sharp turns, unclear splits or too much information cause ripple stops.

Evaluation matrix

Evaluation Metrics

We set baselines and success metrics for every route, so each proposal could be user tested, iterated and grounded in research.

  1. 01

    Decision-Point Density

    How many choices a route asks of people, and how often.

  2. 02

    Route Legibility

    Time to orientation at key junctions, kept low by fewer choice points and a clear forward direction.

  3. 03

    Landmark Anchoring

    Whether fans can recognize major junctions, so a route works for both arrival and departure.

  4. 04

    Error Recovery Cost

    A wrong turn costs more than distance: it creates stress, breaks momentum and ripples into congestion.

  5. 05

    Flow Stability Under Density

    Whether movement stays continuous as crowds grow: lane formation, steady walking speed, signs still visible.

  6. 06

    Human Behavior Alignment

    Support for instincts like crowd-following and reassurance-seeking: less hesitation, fewer micro-stops.

04 · Movement Routes

Mapping Downtown Atlanta

Layer by layer: where fans start, the corridors they’ll take, where signs belong, and where the street pushes back.

Downtown Atlanta: the Fan Festival at Centennial Olympic Park and Atlanta Stadium. The Fan Festival and stadium security zones and gates. MARTA stations, hotels and points of interest. Primary route from the hotels to the Fan Festival. Primary routes from the Fan Festival to the stadium. Primary routes from MARTA to the stadium and Fan Festival. Primary signage placed at intersections along the primary routes. Secondary routes feeding back into the primary routes. Secondary signage along the secondary routes. Bottlenecks along the primary routes. Bottlenecks and visual obstructions. Bottlenecks, visual obstructions and narrow sidewalks.

  1. The area

    A Mile of Downtown

    The Fan Festival at Centennial Olympic Park and Atlanta Stadium sit about a mile apart, with the city’s busiest blocks in between.

  2. The area

    Fan Fest & Security Zones

    Security perimeters and gates decide where fans can and can’t walk, and where queues will form.

    Security Security gate

  3. The area

    Where Journeys Start

    MARTA stations, hotels and points of interest: every place a fan will begin their Last Mile.

    MMARTA HHotels

  4. Primary routes

    Hotels → Fan Fest

    Primary corridors carry the most people, so they’re designed for smooth flow through clarity and reassurance.

  5. Primary routes

    Fan Fest → Stadium

    The match-day spine: the walk from the festival to the gates.

  6. Primary routes

    MARTA → Stadium & Fan Fest

    Transit riders arrive in waves, so these routes have to absorb a whole train at once.

  7. Primary wayfinding

    Signs Where Decisions Happen

    We concentrated signage at intersections, where decisions occur, errors start and flow breaks down, instead of lining every block.

    90–120 m
    between decision points. People hold a direction for about 1.5–2 minutes of walking.
    ≤ 3 s
    to orient at an intersection. Past that, hesitation and backtracking rise 20–25%.

  8. Secondary routes

    Routes That Forgive Mistakes

    Secondary routes absorb wrong turns, relieve congestion in moments of doubt and guide people gently back to a primary route.

  9. Secondary wayfinding

    Corrective Signals

    Secondary signs intercept errors early and lower the cost of recovering from them.

    1–2
    intersections: the window where wrong-turn recovery works best.
    1.5–2 min
    of walking: how long people can hold a direction in mind.

  10. Friction points

    Bottlenecks

    Where routes merge and narrow, crowds compress.

  11. Friction points

    + Visual Obstructions

    Construction, fences and barriers hide the next turn.

  12. Friction points

    + Narrow Sidewalks

    Some blocks can’t hold two-way traffic, let alone a crowd. These are where guidance matters most.

05 · On the Ground

Walking the Routes

We walked the routes ourselves and photographed every point where we hesitated, then told it through the people who’ll feel it most.

Five Points station exit: obstructed sightlines and an unclear direction to the stadium.
01Five Points Station exitMajor decision zone
East side of the exit: a fence narrows the sidewalk and dense crowds.
02East side of the exitCrowding & visual obstruction
West side of the exit: a large intersection creates crowding and confusion.
03West side of the exitDecision zone
Alabama Street crosswalk: tight walkways and street obstacles.
04Alabama St. crosswalkNarrow sidewalks
Along MLK Jr. Drive near the stadium: construction and an extremely narrow sidewalk.
05Along MLK Jr. Dr.Narrow sidewalks

Every walk broke down in the same places: exits, crossings and narrow blocks. Those moments, not the whole route, became what we designed for.

06 · The Three-Zone System

How the Zones Guide Fans

Fans need different things at different moments of the walk. We split the Last Mile into three zones so we could design the right information, signage and experience for each one.

The stadium is the epicenter. Zone 1, Orientation, the outer ring of the Last Mile. Zone 2, Reassurance, the middle ring. Zone 3, Confirmation, closest to the stadium and Fan Festival.

  1. The epicenter

    Everything Points to the Stadium

    The zones ripple out from the stadium and the Fan Festival, so a fan always knows how close they are.

  2. Zone 1

    Orientation

    Helps people understand where they are, where the destination is, and which way to head, from a distance.

    Grounded. Assured. Guided.

    Blue anchors Atlanta’s role as a global hub of movement and connection.

  3. Zone 2

    Reassurance

    Confirms people are on the right path as they move, without making them stop or decide again.

    Energy rising. Collective movement.

    Green reflects Atlanta’s identity as the City in a Forest.

  4. Zone 3

    Confirmation

    Validates arrival and final decisions, removing doubt at the most critical moments near the gates.

    Intensity. Celebration. Arrival.

    Red captures Atlanta’s cultural heat: sports intensity, music energy and collective celebration.

Pattern progression

The chevron pattern carries the zones into the street. It tightens and quickens as fans get closer, so the city itself feels like it’s pulling them in.

  1. Outside the Last Mile
  2. Zone 1 · Orientation
  3. Zone 2 · Reassurance
  4. Zone 3 · Confirmation

07 · Design Guidelines

Signage Toolkit

The guidelines tell the production team which kind of sign goes where, so the system holds together across a mile of streets and dozens of vendors.

Wayfinding as zone identity

Color, pattern and messaging tell fans which zone they’re in, so they feel the transition toward the epicenter.

Wayfinding as high-clarity direction

Decision points: signs at intersections where fans must choose a direction.

Path confirmation: signs that confirm the route toward a destination.

  • Vertical Totems

    8–12 ft

    Give destination confidence and act as references at major approach points.

  • Pole Flags

    Fabric

    Create a long-range directional pull without needing to be read up close.

  • Sculptural Waypoints

    Inflatable or built

    Visible from a distance, so fans orient themselves instantly.

08 · Learnings

What I Learned

  1. 01

    Design the Moment, Not the Map

    What I saw

    Fans didn’t get lost along the blocks. They got lost at exits, crossings and narrow stretches.

    What I learned

    Putting guidance at decision points does more than covering every street with signs.

  2. 02

    Metrics End Debates

    What I saw

    With many stakeholders and opinions, every route could be argued for.

    What I learned

    Agreeing on six measurable metrics first turned opinions into decisions we could test.

  3. 03

    People Are Part of the System

    What I saw

    At past World Cups, volunteers calmed crowds that signs alone couldn’t.

    What I learned

    The best wayfinding plans for humans as signage, not just signage for humans.

This isn’t signage, it’s choreography

It’s how Atlanta welcomes the world.