Healthcare wayfinding is a serious customer and patient relations issue for hospitals and medical facilities. Why? Because patients and visitors, inside and outside the facility, are usually in a heightened state of anxiety and are thus worried about finding their way to their intended destination. For first-time visitors and patients, this heightened state of anxiety is multiplied. The frustration that comes from getting lost is ranked among the top complaints by visitors to healthcare facilities. Studies have shown that if visitors do not have direction – or reassurance of their direction – every 30 feet while traveling through a facility, they will likely stop and ask an employee for directions. Thus, an effective wayfinding signage system is crucial to keeping a hospital staff focused, productive, and free from interruptions.
An effective healthcare wayfinding system provides direction and empowerment for visitors moving to find their destination in a facility. Since you only get one chance to make a good first impression, the wayfinding system should be designed with the first-time visitor in mind. A successful and effective wayfinding system reveals layers of information for the visitor to get to their destination – a process called progressive disclosure, which provides only enough information necessary to get the visitor to the next decision-making point. Hospitals often provide too much information at inappropriate locations. Providing information to go to anywhere from everywhere is overcomplicated and can lead to information overload. Sometimes less is more.
There are 3 modes of travel that a successful wayfinding hospital sign system must accomodate: exterior vehicular, exterior pedestrian, and interior pedestrian. When all three of these systems work together seamlessly and flawlessly, they result in something very valuable, peace of mind for your visitors.
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