Early in the Discovery Phase of the Seattle Children’s Hospital project, we realized one important thing about the client team: they understand that a truly successful wayfinding program requires a holistic and integrated system of components.
And we couldn’t agree more. A wayfinding system that considers signage, architectural elements, people, and artwork is far more effective than one that views the signage as a solitary element—because in any wayfinding program all of these aspects impact each other.
According to Project Director Mark Sanders, one aspect we sometimes see overlooked is artwork. “When artwork is integrated into an environment’s design, it can not only add depth to a space, but also support a wayfinding program,” he says. Artwork can also offer wayfinding cues by reinforcing themes and zones, and, in the case of Seattle Children’s, can serve as a distraction for visitors who may spend several months at the hospital under stressful conditions.
We recently wrapped up the Discovery Phase of the Children’s project. We assessed existing conditions at the hospital, conducted extensive interviews with staff about the problems of the current system, and learned about their hopes for an improved wayfinding system. One big take-away was that although the hospital had in place many components of a successful wayfinding program, there is an opportunity to improve clarity and reduce confusion, stress, and wasted time.
As designers, we’re always striving to bring clarity to an environment and to our client’s image. When creating an effective wayfinding program, we research, organize information, and determine hierarchy, all of which leads to reduced clutter and increased clarity. This search for precision and efficiency turns out to be very similar to the efficiency strategy Seattle Children’s has integrated into its daily operations.
This strategy—Continuous Performance Improvement, or CPI—was inspired by a set of principals called the Toyota Production System. Created by Toyota between 1948 and 1975, the system is a series of customer-focused and efficiency-minded principals to eliminate waste in its processes and increase value for customers through continuous small improvements. Seattle Children’s figured these ideas could also be applied to healthcare (a recent New York Times article details the process), and successfully lessened waste, saved money, and increased visitor satisfaction.
Throughout the entire design process, we’ll continue to be CPI-minded. We, just like Seattle Children’s Hospital, want patients, families, visitors, and staff to feel their environment provides comfort, efficiency, and inspiration. We want the compassion of the Seattle Children’s staff to be apparent through the wayfinding program, for people to feel engaged by the artwork and interpretive wall graphics, and to ensure that our wayfinding system alleviates stress and leads to a positive experience at the hospital.
This is only the beginning of a very large project, and we’ll be sharing updates along the way (here, and on Facebook and Twitter). If you’ve worked on a healthcare project and have any helpful advice, we’d love to hear it! Or if you have any questions for us, just let us know!
