Design the trade show floor for eye contact, not aisle-walking.

technique — attributed to Tahira Endean

Endean's reframe of the trade show is structural. The default is people walking aisle after aisle, eyes at middle level, averting from the logos they are not interested in. The redesign is more open and inviting, where people make eye contact with others on the same level and have conversations. The conversations drive business. The shift is not aesthetic. It is operational. Aisle-and-booth design optimizes for booth visibility and minimizes participant agency. Open-floor design optimizes for participant agency and rewards exhibitors who design their presence for conversation rather than for visual capture.

For trade show organizers and exhibition designers thinking about floor plans. The technique is most useful as a re-architecture question when the show's lead quality has degraded over time.

trade-shows, spatial-design, eye-contact, conversation-driven