Passini and the Labyrinth

The discussion of labyrinths and mazes in Wayfinding in Architecture by Romedi Passini (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1984): The idea that THERE IS A PLAN -- even though the point is to allow the user to get lost.

The puzzle is meant to be solved. Even in the story of the Minotaur, the puzzle was finally solved (with the help of a ball of string).

The connection (or association) here is with interfaces that may be hard to use, but not because the designer was careless. Instead, as we try to create new architectures, we may choose to make them (sometimes) difficult. The associations must make sense, at least in the mind of the designer. They are not random. They are deliberate. Even a labyrinth is built according to a plan, an intention.