An Introduction to Wayfinding Committees – Part One
by Mark Denton on October 15th, 2008
“What is the biggest challenge to overcome when addressing wayfinding challenges in healthcare environments?” It’s a question we hear often from clients and other institutions, and many are surprised by the answer. That’s because in most cases the biggest challenge isn’t related to the complex physical environment found in hospitals, or the unique nature of their visitors. More often the real challenge is the necessary coordination across hospital departments and the consensus building among diverse stakeholders that is required in order for a wayfinding solution to be successfully implemented.
Patients and visitors to modern healthcare facilities expect a high-tech, high-touch experience from start to finish – and that includes wayfinding. Solving wayfinding problems from a patient’s point of view means using multiple media (including web sites, printed maps, signs, touch screen kiosks, and trained staff) to deliver customized wayfinding information at various points in the patient’s healthcare experience. These delivery points might include the patient’s home, the doctor’s office, roadways or transit leading to the healthcare campus, on the campus itself, and in the facility’s lobbies and corridors.
Creating and managing the various tools and processes required to coordinate wayfinding information in this patient-centric manner demands the involvement of individuals and departments from throughout the hospital organization. And in our experience working with healthcare institutions of various sizes and with diverse organizational structures, we have found that the best way to deal with this challenge is through the effective utilization of a wayfinding committee.
A well-structured, well-led wayfinding committee with a clear approval process will yield many benefits, including a better-designed wayfinding system, a smoother implementation process, a more efficient use of the project budget, and an institution better prepared to utilize and maintain its investment.
We’ll discuss the value of wayfinding committees, as well as how they work, in more detail in future posts (Part Two, Part Three) or you can visit the fd2s web site to request a copy of our Wayfinding Committees white paper.