Do you have a decent sign system, but visitors are still getting lost? It may be time to develop a coordinated suite of “non-sign” wayfinding tools that addresses problems conventional signs cannot. Signs often proliferate when either staff or visitors are experiencing wayfinding problems and voicing complaints; these visitor outreach tools address the root causes and help keep sign clutter in check.
Geisinger Health System, cited by President Obama as a national model of healthcare reform, recently built the Hospital for Advanced Medicine, a state-of-the-art addition to its central Pennsylvania complex. Geisinger retained Cloud Gehshan Associates (CGA) to develop a sign system for the new building, which could also be phased into the existing facility. The sign system was designed to handle the complicated main complex, as well as nearby satellite locations.
The tools should fit the problem
To better address the entire guest experience, Cloud Gehshan and its wayfinding specialist Peter Hecht, PhD, suggested that Geisinger implement print, Web, electronic, and environmental elements to solve navigational challenges more effectively, and with more flexibility and lower costs, than signs. These are now being phased in.
Wayfinding begins at home
Wayfinding is an experience that begins at home and ends when the patient exits the site. CGA’s wayfinding wheel summarizes this process. Each “step” in the wheel represents an opportunity and obligation to help the visitor get to the right place with minimum frustration and staff time.
Valerie Faden, the project director who led the wayfinding program for Geisinger, was an early advocate of this integrated approach. She has frequently used the wheel to explain to colleagues the breadth of the wayfinding effort and how it meshes with Geisinger’s mission of innovative service.
Pre-visit and travel
CGA suggested an appointment slip as the ideal way to start the visitor experience. Geisinger mails a reminder to patients in advance, but this improved appointment slip also reinforces which Geisinger facility to visit (because there are many in the area) and includes specific travel information, such as driving directions and an area map. The hospital website also is an important source of visitor information and will be updated to dovetail with the new wayfinding program.
This welcome mat is paper
Arrival
Geisinger has a large site with a garage, surface parking, valet parking, and shuttle buses; the options can be bewildering to first-time or infrequent visitors. Compounding the problem are multiple building entrances, not all of which lead to all destinations. Site signage cannot begin to address the questions that arise for a visitor, but an appointment slip can. An appointment slip can brief the visitor in advance with customized information about where to park or drop-off, how the shuttle system operates, and which entrance to use. It can also address the issue of multiple appointments and the navigation to each. Helpful phone numbers also can be included since most visitors carry cell phones.
One important detail: the nomenclature on signs must exactly match the nomenclature used on the appointment slip so there is no cause for confusion.
Geisinger’s parking garage is new, and CGA’s interviews found that visitors were reluctant to try it, preferring the existing surface lots. CGA added friendly and distinctive level graphics that reference the five surrounding counties. To further assist, CGA designed “You Parked Here” takeaway cards so anxious guests have one less thing to remember and worry about.
Helping visitors self-navigate
Orientation
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