Thinking
Bad signage is a problem that "goes away"
For the past 2 weeks I have been visiting my stepfather in a very large Toronto hospital as he recovers from heart surgery.
I often accompany my 88-year-old mother. On the first very visit together, she was understandably very tense and anxious, as John was coming out of the 6 hour operation and had to be found in the intensive-care unit in one of the several massive hospital wings. She appreciated that I was with her as we parked, crossed the underground parking lot, found the building, elevators, ward and waiting area. Finding our way was difficult and at times, nearly baffling.
I had accompanied John to the same hospital for a test a few months earlier, and I remembered that the first experience of trying to find the drop-off, parking, and navigating the inner corridors as terribly confusing. The hospital has grown, new wings, new additions and entirely new buildings and parking facilities have created a maze of uncertainty. Several different styles of signs coexist adding to the information breakdown. Typography, colour, codes, sizes, formats all jumbled into a nearly Kafkaesque maze of dilemma.
"Lots of mysterious acronyms. Many of the signs 'yelling' in all caps, overly bright colours and an alarming near 'EMERGENCY!' tone everywhere."
As I tried to analyze it, I saw that the problem really was "over signing". Too much clutter, too many signs, overlapping systems, signs often repeating the same information or variations of it. Lots of mysterious acronyms. Many of the signs “yelling" in all caps, overly bright colours and an alarming near “EMERGENCY!” tone everywhere. And don’t forget the bits of paper taped up, which as we all know are the really important notices. To try to make navigation easy, the overcompensation in signs created chaos. (There’s a great German word for this; “Schlimbesserung” an attempt to improve things that makes it worse.)
There were lots and lots of signs recognizing donors too - which noble and important as they are, unfortunately adds terribly to the clutter of signs covering so many walls and filling sight lines.
People who visit hospitals are naturally worried and anxious. This signage disaster adds monstrously to their tensions. Being lost or unsure is a horrible sensation. Particularly if you are in a rush.
When you enter the hospital campus you are overwhelmed as your head swivels from one sign to the next. There are traffic lights, stop signs, flashing lights, and cross walks too. The signs are on walls, on posts and hanging from ceilings. And of, course there are also pathways marked on the ground and floors. And directional signs - just too many directional signs - information is split up over several panels and you feel like you’re getting a fire hose of information.
"The signs are on walls, on posts and hanging from ceilings. And of, course there are also pathways marked on the ground and floors."
But then something weird happened on the 3rd and 4th visit. We knew where to go. We were familiar with the parking lot and landmarks and had memorized the walking route. The navigation problem had in effect, gone away as our familiarity increased, we did not complain about the wayfinding. We weren’t worried about getting lost. We knew exactly how to find the cardiac ward. But we weren’t using the signage either. We just knew the way.
And that is the problem. Signage is needed by first time users, and those who are unfamiliar with the way.
For staff, employees and regular users of the hospital, they can’t see the problem anymore. They don’t think about signage at all. They know their way around. They don’t need signs - and they forget that new visitors really do. So, nobody fixes the bad signs.
But these bad signs make the hospital experience stressful and unpleasant. It adds more worry to an already worrisome visit.
This hospital has to get a pair of “first-time visitor” goggles to see the problem again and find that empathy that they don’t have any more. They must see - and feel - the problem again. Or it won’t get fixed.
They should cut down the number of signs, make priorities and simplify the information and design. They should use "progressive disclosure" to limit and stagger messages and calm down the frantic signage sensation. They need to chart visitor journey diagrams, to map the routes, the issues and pin-point the pain areas. They need to establish clear and consistent language and codes.
The hospital needs to observe and ask visitors about getting lost to learn where the real problems are. They need to do a signage audit and create an information plan.
What are the key landmarks? What are the most important destinations? What are the most common routes? Where do most people get lost? Where should people not go? What kinds of users need to use these signs? Visitors, patients, suppliers, family members.
"What are the key landmarks? What are the most important destinations? What are the most common routes? Where do most people get lost?"
They need to create clear maps of the campus and the interiors of buildings and design a robust sign messaging schedule as well as effective graphics and typography to clarify the navigation and labeling of destination areas.
Donor recognition must look different and not interfere with Wayfinding.
Not easy - and for regular staff, not urgent - but they need to find that urgency again or this important issue – that seems to have gone away - won’t ever get fixed.
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