When Disney's Animal Kingdom opened, there was a path between Africa and Asia that led to nowhere. You would start down the seemingly well-appointed path and end up at a dead end in the woods. You can see photos of this path to nowhere at Parkology.com.

Disney's Animal Kingdom (known internally as DAK) had a vision. It would be a park of “Adventure”. The idea seemed logical: Let the guests have a true adventure. Accordingly, there were no directional signs. You would just “explore” your way around the park.

To make it even more confusing, the park hub was called Safari Village. Guests would, logically, ask cast members working in Safari Village where they could board the safari. But the safari wasn’t in Safari Village. It was in the Africa section of the park. None of it worked. Rather than feeling adventurous, guests felt confused, frustrated, and angry. 

But if there is one thing Disney does well, it is how it listens to its guests and gives them what they want. Temporary directional signs were quickly installed, followed by more permanent, fully themed ones. There are now signs everywhere, including the one pictured above that, in a first for a Disney park, tell the guests how to leave. And, Safari Village was renamed Discovery Island. And, path in the woods? It is now overgrown and ignored.

There are some valuable lessons to draw from Disney's experience.

• Use product and feature names that will make sense to your customers.
• Change your product delivery if your customers are struggling.
• Innovation is good, but don’t be too esoteric. Keep what you do grounded in your customers' reality.

Follow these simple guidelines and the path to nowhere can become the path to know-where.