Dr Colette Jeffrey explains why hospital wayfinding is so difficult, why wayfinding strategies are essential, and ways to make your sites easier to navigate.
Dr Colette Jeffrey has been identifying and solving wayfinding problems in NHS hospitals for many years. Having written the official NHS Wayfinding guidance and worked with more than 25 NHS hospitals, she recently completed a PhD study that investigated why people get lost in buildings. This article explains why hospital wayfinding is so difficult, the tragic consequences of wayfinding failure, why wayfinding strategies are essential, and ways to make your sites easier to navigate.
Wayfinding problems are inevitable in multi-building, maze-like healthcare environments with thousands of first-time visitors. Knowing how much time staff spend directing lost people is the first step towards identifying key wayfinding issues and measuring the impact on operational efficiency. A short staff survey will help you understand the scale of the problems and calculate the hidden costs of misdirected staff time.
Can a first-time visitor find destinations at your site without asking for directions? If your answer is "Yes" there is no need for you to read on. If you are shaking your head, knowing people struggle to find many places at your site, please continue reading.
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