Conceptual Foundations of the Design of Multimodal Symbolic Systems for Children’s Spaces

Abstract

Purpose. This article clarifies the conceptual foundations for designing multimodal symbolic systems in children’s spaces. It interprets the Perception–Action– Feedback (PAF) cycle as a design structuring logic and uses that logic to explain how visual, tactile, and auditory cues can work together as one spatial communication system. The aim is to show how multimodal cues can be organized coherently in child-centred environments. Methodology. The study adopts a systematic design-research approach that combines conceptual analysis, a synthesis of recent work on multimodal wayfinding and experiential graphic design, and a comparative reading of built cases. Three documented cases from museum and healthcare settings are examined to map how cue hierarchy, spatial sequencing, and confirmation mechanisms are structured through the PAF lens. The analysis is interpretive and design-oriented rather than experimental. Results. The article defines multimodal symbolic systems as spatial communication infrastructure and frames multimodality as coordinated cue organization rather than simple sensory layering. It develops a design-oriented reading of PAF in which perception supports identity and legibility, action supports movement and decision-making, and feedback supports confirmation and recovery. From this, the study derives a concise set of design implications and shows, through three cases, how the framework can be used to compare system organization across different children’s environments. Scientific novelty. The study reinterprets PAF as a design logic for multimodal symbolic systems and brings together a system-based account of identity, legibility, sequencing, and confirmation in children’s spaces. It also shifts discussion away from isolated cue variables toward the coordinated organization of symbolic environments. Practical relevance. The study offers a design-oriented framework that can support the planning and evaluation of multimodal symbolic systems in children’s spaces. Its results may be useful for designers, educators, museum planners, and healthcare professionals involved in shaping child-centered environments, particularly when organizing cue hierarchy, route sequencing, and confirmation mechanisms across different spatial settings.