Orientation & Identity

Wayfinding, signage design is still a young profession, balancing on the edge of two and three dimensional design. Wayfinding often is described as spatial problem solving and designers are multidisciplinary, with a psychological look into showing the way.

The book Orientation & Identity has 17 different projects discussed and show the potential for clients, urban planners, entrepreneurs and politicians. Each project is described from designer and client point of reference, giving a great insight on how the projects came together. This heavy weighted book shows a great in-depth insight in the field of architecture, environmental graphic design and wayfinding.

About Orientation & Identity

The first few chapters give an insight on identity and orientation standard, the philosophy and architecture. The wide range of interviews include, city-wayfinding, airport signage, Dutch road signs, museum design and corporate wayfinding in Europe. The book is written in both German and English, at first you need to adjust a bit to find the reading language of choice, after a few moments I was used reading the bottom of the pages.

The case studies starts off with a introduction of the topic followed by the people behind the projects, with full background details you will get a good feeling of who participated in the project. The interviews start by asking who participated and why projects are initiated, then the story following the discussion during the project. A great insight on how they made specific choices to come to a solution for the project.

The pages are filled with full color (detailed) photos of projects accompanied by sketches and / or 2D images of the wayfinding systems.

Projects included in the book:

• Legible London, London; City wayfinding
• Dialogmuseum, Frankfurt; Museum wayfinding
• Effenaar, Eindhoven; Environmental identity
• Messe, Stuttgart; Identity and wayfinding
• College wayfinding
• Dutch road signage, Holland; Typography Road signs and wayfinding
• Zürich Airport, Zürich; signage design and wayfinding strategy
• Lower Austrian Clinics, Niederösterreich; Hospital wayfinding systems
• and much much more

As the true value of the book is the various insights on the people involved to get a great perspective on how the projects emerged.

Conclusion

I personally enjoyed reading Orientation & Identity for various reasons; the focus of projects are European, that makes this book very relevant for EU countries and stands out to the many US wayfinding / signage books. Secondly the in-depth interviews with various stakeholders, architects and designers behind a project makes it interesting to get a peek inside a project. Lastly the book also provides in technical details, at the end some projects are displayed with typefaces details, construction drawings and iconography.

The language separation is not disturbing but could have been done better in my opinion and the weight of the book does not make it comfortable holding it for a longer period of time. Overall, if you are looking for the stories behind large-scale wayfinding and signage projects in Europe, this is the book for you.

Availability

The book is worldwide available via amazon.

Orientation and navigation in a unknown city can be hard, can these wayfinding apps help you along?

Exploring unknown cities for business or pleasure, for me, is always a joyful experience, walking around and getting into the city will enlighten your vision and makes you connect to the culture. Visiting the beautiful and exciting elements a city has to offer makes your trip an unforgettable visit. Getting information on how to get around in a city is essential for easy orientation and navigation.

Actually one of the most important factors that you will remember after visiting a city is how did you get around.

What items did you use to navigate through a city? How did public transport interacts with the navigation possibilities that you have? What was your feeling and with the items you used to navigate and did you find your way? Where did you get your information from and was it sufficient enough?

All of these questions make or break a your vision on city exploration.

Exploring a unknown city

When visiting a city there are different ways you can get there and after arriving you need to know where you are in the spatial environment in order to locate yourself and make decisions on where to go next. The provided information at that point of entry is critical for easy city exploration, if the provided information is insufficient, you might turn the wrong way and not finding the locations you want or need to visit. Going the wrong way increases feelings of disorientation, distraction and anxiety. The feeling that you are loosing time on exploring a city trip is one of the worst psychological emotions you experience.

City information

When visiting a new city is can be useful to check the cities website and obtain information about:

• Public transport and available connections between the various transportation services
• Getting a map of the city and locate your hotel, maybe even plan a trip from your city point to entry to the hotel
• Maybe plan your trip via google maps and mark all the points your want to visit
• Opening hours of the facilities you want to visit
• I’m that kind of guy that doesn’t do any of the suggested items as described above… I just try to explore the city using my senses and trying to find where I need to go next. Sometimes this is a great and joyful experience, sometimes it causes disorientation and arguments with the people I travel with at that time.

Orientation and navigation in an unknown city

When using your senses to guide yourself in a unknown environment you need eye-level directional information and possibly a map to locate and navigate through the city. City often uses directional signs on streets to point you in the right direction and sometimes information panels are providing you with an orientation overview. In future posts I will go deeper into pedestrian navigation and city wayfinding. Other forms of navigation is through a mobile phone powered with for instance Google Maps or specific applications enhanced to bring you information about the city you want to visit.

City marketing and visitors information

As city marketing is the nr. 1 way of promoting your city, providing information to the visitors is also part of the branding strategy. Currently many cities worldwide are producing mobile applications to improve the visitors experience and this will make it easier to navigate through a city. I have compiled a list of iPhone applications which will let you navigation through a city using your own personal map.

This article is a show case of the relationship between architecture and graphic design. In fact, surprisingly few architects use typographical elements in their design. For this overview of projects that do make good use of lettering, I’ve probably browsed through more than thousand Architectural Designs. Below you’ll find ten buildings on integrated architectural lettering and signage

I can only guess about the reason why architects make so little use of typhographical elements on their buildings. The main reason will be that the building design doesn’t need it. Most buildings can make their function clear without the use of signage on the façade. As you will find on the buildings listed below, architects used the signage to show the name of the building to the world; there is no building to be found with its function printed on it. The function is supposed to be clear.

A famous architect once stated: ‘form follows function’. That’s why you know what the particular function of a building is. Architects follow their mantra.

This is a guest post by Frank van Leersum, a Dutch student architecture who likes to write about architecture and books. Visit his Dutch weblog Aureon.

The Cuba that we know is a very restricted, communism country. Yet was striking to see that environmental graphic design and wayfinding are thought well through. From a propaganda point of reference, it is understandable to communicate on a physical street level to interact with the local community. Everywhere in the city slogans from the Fidel regime are painted on the walls.

But, what was noticeable was the city wayfinding. A comprehensive wayfinding system is implemented throughout Havana. This article will feature the characteristics of the Havana city wayfinding system.

Streets and signs of Cuba

The street life in Cuba is a great contrast to the Western world. The atmosphere is authentic and feels like a movie from the fifties. The streets of Havana, the small way of living and the local customs puts our every day life (what we take for granted) in perspective.

Typography, color and symbol signs

The consistency in placement, readability of text, arrows usage and symbol signs are balanced and it seems there is a graphic standard in place. We tried to determine who designed the wayfinding system and we would be interested knowing which agency or authority designed this. If you know who designed the Havana city wayfinding please let us know (see contact details below).

Overall the city wayfinding system in Havana gave a good experience of the city and was a guidance along the tourist attractions.

With the help of typographic tools we discovered the typeface used in the signs; Traffic Type Spain. The font has an authentic look and feel and fits well into the Cuban environment. The arrow design seems to originating from the Aiga Symbol Sign collection. The symbol signs referring to museums, parks and memorials seems to a familiarity with standardized symbol signs collections.

Traffic Type Spain Standard (D)

Originally, the font “Traffic Type Spain” designed in the pre-digital area around eighties. Then there were no ready to use outline fonts and to manufacture traffic signs they had to cut letterings by hand or manually compose them from single stamp letters.
URW developed sign-making software called SIGNUS, the first of its kind used to cut letters and logo in vinyl. Due the popular demand of SIGNUS, URW designed the digital outline fonts for road signs for European countries.

Under the technical direction of Peter Karow, URW led the world in developing digital font technology. Its IKARUS suite of font digitization tools and file format standards handles fonts as bitmaps, as grey scale (anti-aliased bitmaps), as vector outlines, and as curved outlines.
The fonts are designed specific to country regulations. The artwork for the fonts was mostly provided the sign-making companies who would produce the traffic letterings for the corresponding governmental traffic offices. The digital production and completion of the character set was done at URW.

The name “Traffic Type Spain” was given by URW. They named them all “Traffic Type” plus the country, like Traffic Type Sweden, Traffic Type Luxembourg, etc. This meant that the font was officially used to produce the traffic signs in for instance Spain.

We can only imagine why the Spanish variant is chosen for the sign system, it could have been an accidental choice or something to do with the Cuba history or Spanish influence. We estimate the wayfinding system was implemented about ten years ago and have regular updates.

More about the font

The font “Traffic Type Spain” and other country related fonts are available via URW++ website. Below you will also find a reference to Ikarus Typography Software used to digitize paper fonts for digital use.

• Foundry URW++

Special thanks to Peter Rosenfeld of URW++ Design & Development GmbH for contributing to this article with background details and information about the font Traffic Type Spain.

Typeface: Rijksoverheid Sans / Serif

Currently there are over 200 departments and ministries which all have different logos and uses different typefaces as their brand identity. In a pitch held by the Dutch government studio Dumbar won this competition and introduced a new logo and 1 brand identity: 1 Logo.

From the beginning of 2008 Peter Verheul was asked by studio Dumbar to take his typeface Versa and transform the typeface usable for a larger audience. He changed the look and feel of the Serif version of Versa Serif and created a complete new set of letters for the Sans version. The fonts are named Rijksoverheid Sans and Rijksoverheid Serif. The name of the typeface is recognizable as “government” and will be used in every way of visual communication.

The Rijksoverheid Sans will be used mainly for headings of text and in signage or wayfinding systems. The Rijksoverheid Serif is used as bread letter for reading text. In just under nine months Peter Verheul managed to finalize the fonts and released them in four different variations, from Regular, Italic to Bold.

Designing the Rijksoverheid typeface

Letterijk book

During the time of creation Peter Verheul did not have much time to take pictures (as said in his introduction speech) but he kept a note book full of drawings and notes of creating and designing the typefaces. After finishing the typefaces he donated them to Bijzondere Collecties, a Dutch important collection of valuable work from Dutch graphical, typographical- artists. The Bijzondere Collections hosts the booklet, first printouts and everything that is related in creating the typeface Rijksoverheid.

Letterrijk Book is a story about the birth and why of creation the typeface Rijksoverheid written by Mathieu Lommen, published by De Buitenkant Publishers. The booklet covers everything from the start of the project and the combination with project 1 Logo, a story about how the typography started working together, with many drawn examples of early stages of letter design. It also covers the complete glyphs of the typeface variations, with over 700 glyphs each this typeface is multi-language proof. With the design of the typeface several key factors of demands where given to Peter Verheul and Studio Dumbar.

The typeface should be easy to read, should not be too wide in order to reduce printing costs, it could be used for all forms of visual communication of the Dutch Government and every department will use it therefore it will reduce the costs of different typeface licenses. The typeface will function as a bridge between society and government, a typeface that everybody will feel comfortable with.

Rijksoverheids typeface

The Rijksoverheid Sans, an easy to read typeface with a large x-height. This allows maximum legibility for heading text, signage, wayfinding and other forms of visual identity. In the introduction speech Peter Verheul mentioned that he was impressed by the way the Sans version would be used for bread letter. He is interested to see the further development of Rijksoverheid Sans in this field.

Rijksoverheid Serif is the bread letter for reading text, I have read the booklet a couple of times and it seems to be a very legible typeface. Which will form the basis of the whole brand identity of the Dutch Government.

Project 1 Logo

The Dutch government brand identity was not concise or consistent, with over 200 departments and ministries costs were rising of each department havigd their own logo, typeface, print materials, signage and everything that involves the visual communication of that department. There was not a direct link to society and confusion about the identity the government wants to presents themselves. Project 1 Logo was born to bring back all brand identity of the Dutch government and give one signal to society about what the government stands for. In a pitch several design studios participated in order to create 1 Logo, 1 brand, 1 identity, 1 way of communicating between society and government, coming all together as 1 government.

From 2009 until 2011 every department should use the new logo and typeface in all forms of visual communication, a huge operation which involves many parties. I believe there will be a brand guideline from studio Dumbar to lead everything into the correct, concise and consistent use of the brand identity.

Read more

• Studio Dumbar, the designer of 1 Logo identity.
• Dutch government website about project 1 Logo, Rijkshuisstijl.
• Website of designer Peter Verheul

On Wednesday 31st March Ivan Bennett, Design Manger for London Buses, delivered a presentation on the design and development of Bus infrastructure furniture and products at Transport for London’s offices in Southwark. This article gives and overview of the evening and highlights some of the key topics discussed.

Background Information

As part of Transport for London (TfL), London Buses is responsible for securing the provision of bus services throughout Greater London in a safe, efficient manner, while encouraging the use of buses and public transport. Surface Transport Infrastructure Development are responsible for the design and development, specification, installation and maintenance of the supporting infrastructure within Greater London. As the main point of contact with passengers, bus stops in London currently total over 19,000.

Introduction

Mike Wolff, Chairman of the SDS, introduced Ivan and highlighted that the society often discuss the graphic design and strategy of wayfinding systems, but talk less about the design of products. That in mind he was very keen to get the event underway.

Ivan began his presentation by putting the scale of the London Bus project into perspective. Every weekday over 6,500 scheduled buses carry around 6.25 million passengers on over 700 different routes, amounting to over 1.7 billion journeys a year. He was also keen to point out that the first use of the iconic roundel was the 19th-century symbol of the London General Omnibus Company; its usage on the Underground came later.

History of London Buses

Illustrations of old shelters showed how little the identity had changed over the years and demonstrated how forward thinking London were in a period hung up on embellishment. Ivan emphasised the importance and influence of Frank Pick, head of the London Underground in the 1910s and 1920s and of the newly merged London Transport in the 1930s. Frank was instrumental in establishing the world’s most progressive public transport system and an exemplar of design management. Ivan went on to explain how Frank’s vision influenced the design of London bus products, including those we see on the streets today.

Creating Successful Products

TfL are a well known brand and the legacy of their products has a huge impact on defining the city. Their products and use of materials also help define the values of the system. Ivan identified his three intrinsic factors for creating successful products:

• Aesthetics
• Appropriateness
• Economics
• Even in the early 19th century, London Transport realised the importance of these values.

(quote: “The test of the goodness of a thing is its fitness for use. If it fails on this first test, no amount of ornamentation or finish will make it better; it will only become more expensive and more foolish.” – Frank Pick)

It was clear that Ivan and his team design products with a clear focus on ‘Appropriateness’. They adopt a cradle to grave approach to design and Ivan listed key considerations in their design process:

• Who will use the product?
• What will the product be used for?
• How long does the product need to last?
• What possible impact does the product need to withstand? (vehicles, pedestrians, weather)
• How often will the product need to be updated?
• How will the product be maintained?
  -In particular when looking at materials:

Do the individual materials proposed work together?

• Are the materials used sustainable?
• Do the materials work within the surrounding environment?
• What is the life span of individual materials?
• How will materials be disposed of at the end of the products life?

Current Product

Using a full scale replica of a bus stand located at the front of the room, Ivan described in detail the design of the current product used at bus stops.

Many of the components are easily switchable. Ivan demonstrated how using a tiling system, bus stop numbers could be changed and moved almost like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Examples of timetables, route maps and network maps helped show how London Buses have simplified information to make it easier for bus stop users to answer three key questions:

• Where am I now?
• How do I get from A to B
• How will I know when I get there?

A good example of this simplification of information is the timetable, where individual times have been omitted and instead only first and last buses are listed along with the general frequency of buses throughout the day.

Example: Transport for London Journey Planner.

Where other systems fail

One reason other systems have failed is the lack of continuity. London bus stops extend beyond central areas and cover all routes in Greater London. Ivan indicated that passengers do not just want information about where they are travelling from, but when they get there, they need the same consistently presented information. People need information near their homes and local areas, not just in the centre of the city.

Ivan also pointed out that many systems fail because they do not own their products. London Buses design and build their products and own the intellectual property rights. This allows TfL the freedom to change manufacturers without having to reinvent their products. Continuity of the brand is maintained and London Buses can continually work on evolving their products.

Questions and Answers

The session concluded with a questions and answers forum. Unsurprisingly many of the questions focussed on manufacturing methods and material choices, but several of the questions were centred around brand identity and the roundel. A debate began on the use of the roundel and whether overuse was diluting its visual impact, a subject I am sure we all could have continued discussing at length, but time was pushing on and Mike sadly had to draw the session to a close.

Conclusion

I have been to several events organised by the SDS, but this was one of my favourites. The presentation was filled with facts, history, illustrations and physical examples. Ivan is obviously very knowledgeable on the subject and passionate about his job and this came through in his presentation.

I would like to thank Ivan, Mike, Michelle and the SDS for another great event.

For more information on the SDS visit: The Sign Design Society

Author Bio:
Hayley graduated in 2007 with a first class degree in Visual Communication. She now lives and works in London as a Wayfinding Designer for a large architectural practice. Her key projects to date include developing signage and information graphics for both Dublin and Rome Airport. Hayley’s thoughts and inspirations can be found in her regular tweets as Wayfinding_UK.

On our website designworkplan we used Google Analytics for collecting visitors data. When we started the blog way back in 2008 it was a good way to find out which content viewers of our website liked and disliked. A user-friendly dashboard to find out important metrics related to viewers of the website.

Google Analytics gave us insights on popular pages and were people visited our website from. This allowed us to target those audiences more and as a result we gained traction to our (design) website. Our content evolves around design, typography and wayfinding. Wayfinding is a design niche that focusses at connecting people to information and environments.

If you want to learn more about wayfinding, please read our page Introduction to Wayfinding.

Over time Google Analytics grew in complexity to an extend we have a hard time understanding the metrics shown in the dashboards.

Google Analytics back to the future

In the beginning Google Analytics was plain and simple, the right fit for our design content. As a content creator we are interested in how visitors perceive information on our website. Information about popular pages, demographics and referral sources are meaningful for establishing an understanding of what visitors are looking for.

Privacy and data collection

Over time we realized Google used our collected data for their benefits. Although Google says to “never” sell any personal information. The collective gathered information through Google Analytics is an immense source of valuable information about browser behaviour online. Not only it provides information on topics people are interested in, it also gives information about reading time, bounce rates and related information people are interested in. Maybe Google doesn’t use the information gathered from our website, but sure it can create a broader sense of what people in general are interested in.

As Google remains to control most of the internet search queries and related internet services such as advertising. Google can combine Analytics and Adwords to maximize their profit ratio. In other words, we believe as Google has a tremendous amount of information from the Analytics part of their database. The Adwords part of Google will benefit from this information, as they are familiar with what people search for and what related information people would be interested in.

Our most popular posts on the blog

Over the years we have published many articles on the blog. Via our visitors data tracking we could see these are our most popular posts:

• A arrow symbol collection, with over 1M (Million) downloads! 56 Free Arrow Symbols & Icons
• The guide into color contrast for sign and wayfinding design. Signs and color contrast
• A free collection of 50 common used symbol signs. Symbol Sign Collection

Our series about typography did very well over the last years, including the following articles:

• An example collection of typeface usages with Arial. Arial is everywhere
• Another collection with FF Meta typeface examples FF Meta is everywhere

Our book series are popular with the following reviews:

• A comprehensive book about wayfinding by David Gibson. The Wayfinding Handbook
• The industry standard for learning about wayfinding by Per Mollerup. Wayfinding > Wayshowing

Over the years we have continued our writing, consider looking at our blog to learn more about wayfinding.

Seamless reading experience

We are wayfinding and information designers. Our core services evolve around information, people and places. Connecting information at the right time and place. As we are browsing the internet, the reading experiences are mostly dreadful. Pop-ups, reminders, boxes, ads, etc.

At our website we want people to enjoy our content, without having to read privacy policies and forcing visitors to click "Accept" buttons. We want to create a seamless reading experience without distractions.

The brilliant website How I Experience Web Today is a fantastic example of most browsing experiences today. So familiar, yet so disappointing experiences.

According to research the average internet user spends ~3 hours online every day, visiting anywhere from 5 up-tp 100 website each day. Imagine the time lost for accepting all those cookies each and every day.

Recently it came to our attention that Google Analytics is in conflicts with European regulations and is not fully GDPR complaint. In relationship to the cookie, accept privacy terms and UX issues it got us to rethink the analytics part of our website.

From past to present

As we want to comply to European guidelines regarding data collection and to create a seamless reading experience, we started to seek an alternative for Google Analytics.

As also found Google Analytics was found illegal in an Austrian court decision. The details of that decision can be found here

From here our search began looking for an alternative way to collect visitors data at our website. We have tried other different analytics services, which include:

• Matomo analytics, a self hosted analytics service. Comes with many features and is free to use. We have found installing the software and dashboard somewhat complicated to use.
• Statscounter, great alternative. The dashboard has a good UX design and the service has many features to track visitors behaviour. Statscounter is an anonymous web tracking service which is good to become GDPR compliant. The paid version starts at $19,- per month.
• Fathom, a very user friendly interface, cookie-free and GDPR proof with anonymous web tracking. Starting at $14,- per month. ($140,- p/y)

Our research was plain simple, trying out the services as mentioned above for ~14 days. The experiment gave us insights on what we wanted to see in our analytics, useful metrics, ease of use, GDPR free. As running websites is NOT our daily focus, we found out our needs are UX and ease of use based. Meaning a single dashboard solution, main metrics and great UX design. In our quest for the Google Analytics alternative we landed at Fathom Analytics.

Use Fathom Analytics

Our basic requirements are formulated as following:

• GDPR Proof and anonymous pageview tracking
• Fast loading script, by-passing ad blockers and no cookies
• Easy to use dashboard, in one overview
• Information about pages, average time on site/page and traffic sources
• Information about devices, browsers and countries
• Possibility to track specific actions or events on webpages (easy funnel)
• Track multiple websites in one dashboard/account

As we deploy multiple websites, a single dashboard solution is ideal to gain overview insights on performance.

Reading experience & privacy

Our website and content creation is focussed on providing niche information for design, typography and wayfinding. In our opinion Google Analytics has become a complex platform with too many functionalities. We understand that professional website creators and builders could use Google Analytics to its full potential. We simply want to put out great content and gather information about the visitors to our website.

Our goal is provide a visitor to our website a seamless reading experience and enjoying our content without annoying pop-ups or related privacy issues.

From now on forward we have disabled Google Analytics from our websites and are fully compliant with European regulation around collecting information from visitors on our website.

Fathom is a paid service which collects anonymous data from visitors on our websites. We are using a $140,- yearly plan for collecting visitors data from our websites.

Full disclosure

We work as a designers for Google Offices, where we develop and create wayfinding solutions for their visitors and employees. We respect Google for their vision and the way how they organize their workplaces, people and environments. At our website (designworkplan) we have chosen to use fathom for reasons stated in this article. We are not paid or sponsored by usefathom. If you want to support us, please use our affiliate link below.

Final thoughts

This post is different from our usual design content, we wanted to be fully transparant in the way how we collect visitors data from our websites. Consider thinking about the way you collect visitors data at your website(s).

If you are planning to use Fathom, consider using our referral link (highly appreciated) Use Fathom referral code CCPSXY

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Wayfinding

Finding your way in a hospital setting can be tricky. The stress of finding a department or destination in a (unfamiliar) building can a challenging experience.

What is there was a way to make finding your way in a hospital easier? This is where design discipline wayfinding comes into play and has the potential to improve the patient experience.

Wayfinding is a multidisciplinary design field that combines principles of cognitive psychology and human behavior for a better understanding of the surroundings.

For hospitals, wayfinding aims to address the following critical issues:

• How can we make it improve wayfinding for patients?
• Which design principles can assist to enhance the visitors experience?
• How can we create an accessible environment for all users, including people with disabilities?

In this article we will explore the importance of wayfinding principles in hospitals. The challenges we face along the way and the innovative solutions that will improve the way patients navigate healthcare settings.

By exploring the role of both traditional and digital wayfinding tools, we will highlight the potential of well-designed wayfinding to improve wayfinding in hospitals. The goal is an improved patient experience and ultimately to contribute to reduced stress when visiting a hospital.

The challenges of hospital signage

Orienting and navigating a hospital environment can be challenging for patients, visitors and even medical staff. With wayfinding research we can look through the 'eyes' of the users and understand the bottlenecks and success factors of effective wayfinding.

In this chapter we explore the main challenges of signage and take a closer look at why these problems can arise.

A. Complexity of buildings

Signage 'shows' people the way in buildings and environments. A hospital building is usually a large building with several floors, wings and departments. A hospital can have more than 100 different departments, from Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Surgery, Internal Medicine to Orthopedics, Radiology and Oncology. This can include many subspecialties.
A hospital usually consists of many departments and specialists, located throughout the hospital building, connected by squares and corridors.

Why can a hospital building have a complicated or confusing layout?

• Due to expansion and renovations, buildings can be adapted over time. Expansion of wings and/or, for example, an attached building can lead to a confusing layout.
• Due to functional requirements of departments, part of the hospital may not be accessible. As a result, to reach a certain department, you can get there via a detour.

How does (building) complexity affect patients and visitors?

• A complicated layout brings increased stress. Can I find the department? Am I on time?
• Difficulty finding departments. Where is department xx? How do I get to the department?

Why are hospital environments naturally stressful?

• Due to health problems and emotional nature, a hospital can be experienced as stressful. What do I have? Can the doctor help me?
• Due to time-bound appointments and procedures in a hospital. Am I on time? Where is...?

How does this stress affect signage?

• Due to increased stress, people (usually) have a reduced ability to process information. Where should I look?
• Due to an increased reliance on intuitive references. How does the signage work?

What are the unique signage challenges that different users face?

• Patients, visitors are not familiar with the layout of the building. Where's what?
• Patients, visitors have cognitive or physical limitations. May have difficulty processing the information.
• Non-native speakers and/or have difficulty reading the signage.

Why is it important to consider user needs when designing signage?

• Ensuring accessibility and inclusiveness principles, design-for-all concept.
• Reduce the risk of disorientation
• On time for an appointment
• Consistent information provision towards a patient and visitor gives peace of mind in orienting and navigating in an (unfamiliar) environment.

Why can it be difficult to maintain consistency in hospital signage systems?

• Due to the variety of systems and information provision around patient information.
• Information such as on the website, call letter, reception desk, ticket, referral letter and signage must be consistent for a clear picture towards the patient, visitor.

By examining these challenges in wayfinding research, we understand the user and thereby identify bottlenecks and success factors.

Wayfinding strategy for hospitals

In this chapter we discuss different ways of referring that can help improve orientation and navigation in the hospital. By implementing these strategies, hospitals become more user-friendly and accessible, reducing the stress associated with navigating healthcare facilities.

1. Well-thought-out signage
   This includes clear, concise, and easy-to-understand signage at key decision points, such as at entrances, hallways, elevators, stairways, and wards. Ensure consistency in design, colors and typography for clear communication.

Example: A hospital can create a wing layout for different departments such as A, B, C, D, etc. making it easier for users to track their destination.

2. Landmarks and Visual Recognition Points:
   Including landmarks and visual identifiers in the hospital environment can aid orientation and make it easier for users to remember the route.

Example: Placing distinctive artwork, architectural features or color schemes as landmarks in the hospital.

3. Digital Wayfinding:
   Digital wayfinding, such as interactive kiosks, mobile apps and touchscreens, can provide real-time information and personalized directions to help users navigate the hospital more easily.

Example: Digital screens in the hospital for displaying relevant information for users. Where am I? Where can I find department xx? And how do I get there?

4. Staff training and support:
   Ensuring that medical staff and employees are well aware of the signage system and tone-of-voice towards patients and visitors.

Example: A hospital could offer training sessions to employees to familiarize them with the signage and teach them how to effectively help visitors navigate the hospital.

5. Inclusive Design and Accessibility:
   Hospitals should be accessible to everyone, including people with reduced mobility, the visually impaired or the hearing impaired.

Ensure that (digital) signage takes these groups into account by using clear, high-contrast fonts, tactile elements, Braille and audio signals where appropriate.

Example: Tactile markings on the floor or braille signs assist to the help the visually impaired to navigate the building and find the right department.

By implementing these signage strategies and addressing bottlenecks and success factors, healthcare facilities can significantly improve the user experience of patients, visitors and staff. This leads to less stress, increased satisfaction and ultimately better healthcare outcomes.

Digital wayfinding in hospitals

Digitization in signage is important for improving the overall user experience in a hospital. Digital tools provide real-time information, personalized routes and additional resources to assist patients and visitors in navigating complex hospital environments.

In this chapter we discuss examples and use cases for digital wayfinding.

1. Real Time Information:
   Digital signage can provide real-time information and updates about, for example, waiting times, routes and where you are in a hospital.

Example: Digital information signs can display the current waiting times for departments and/or other hospital services.

2. Integration with Social Media and Online Communication:
   A social media integration platform to assist patients and visitors plan their visit, receive (route) information and share feedback.

Example: A hospital can implement a (AI) chatbot to assist users for navigating questions, ask for directions, and for instance scheduling appointments.

3. Digital Screens:
   Interactive screens can provide patients with real-time information about their destination, directions and additional services such as finding a nearby restroom or coffee corner.

Example: A hospital can place interactive screens or a kiosk at the entrance and install it on every floor, where visitors can receive personalized route information.

4. Mobile Information :
   Show relevant information on digitale signage screens, such as routes and destinations in the hospital. Think about including a "you are here" on a map and/or use directory signs for an overview of departments.

Example: A hospital can display the information in a mobile environment, which is linked to the hospital's website.

5. Augmented Reality (AR) Signage:
   AR technology could overlay digital information in the real environment, such as arrows and text, using a smartphone's camera.

Example: An overlay that guides users using digital cues that overlap with the real environment.

The implementation of digital signage in hospitals creates an integrated patient experience and approach. The starting point is to use technology for a more personalized route and real-time updates, resulting in an improved user experience.

Wayfinding scenarios

In this chapter we discuss different scenarios for referring users in a hospital building. A new or existing hospital building usually has an entrance, exit, atrium, floors, corridors and wards. Destinations in a hospital can be 'coded' by using a wayfinding strategy. By means of a reference key it is possible to easily reach destinations. Below are a few examples:

1. Route numbers
   Organizing the hospital with route numbers. This means that each destination gets a route number. Patients, visitors use the route number to reach a destination. Route numbers can be ascending or linked to, for example, a floor.

Example: Route 142, where 1 stands for floor 1 and 42 is the sequential number. This way you can always find where you are in a hospital.

2. Wing layout
   With wing layouts, lift points such as elevators or stairs are classified with a name or letters. For example A, B, C, D, etc. With wing layouts, the letters are usually followed by a number, which stands for the floor.

Example: C2, where C stands for the wing and 3 for the floor. An addition of a number can indicate even further specifications, such as C2-12. Where, for example, 12 is the waiting area on wing C floor 2.

3. User-friendly (digital) additions
   This scenario adds tactile and auditory information to wayfinding scenarios for reaching foreign speaking people or for people who have difficulty walking or have reduced vision capacity.

Testing the wayfinding scenarios is important to gain feedback from users. A scenario is building, process and user-related. Implementing a clear and concise wayfinding scenario improves an intuitive way finding destinations in a hospital.

Conclusion

A wayfinding design strategy plays an important role in improving the user experience in a hospital.

Implementing a well-thought-out wayfinding strategy and scenarios, users can orientate and navigate more easily. The starting point is to improve the user experience, which contributes to a positive image of the hospital.

The roll-out of both fixed and digital wayfinding tools, such as signage and digital displays, can help provide an integrated approach and experience tailored to users' requirements and needs.

In conclusion, a wayfinding design and strategy are indispensable for creating an accessible, safe and user-friendly environment in hospitals. It is vital that hospitals and wayfinding design studios work together to implement effective solutions that help patients, visitors and staff navigate and feel comfortable in these complex environments.

Why people get lost

Navigating through hospitals can be a challenging task and stressful experience for patients, visitors, and even staff. With the increasing complexity of hospital layouts and diverse user needs, there is a growing demand for effective and accessible wayfinding solutions.

Misinformation and not up-to-date information are among the most common issues why people get lost. The lack of quality information across platforms allows for disorientation, a feeling of getting lost, and not knowing which source to trust. Some of the issues include:

• Getting lost, high stress levels
• Not on time for an appointment
• Unable to orientate/navigate
• Information not correct/up-to-date
• No holistic wayfinding approach

Costs of Getting Lost

Wayfinding issues lead to significant costs due to staff time spent on assisting lost individuals, delays in patient care, and missed appointments.

A Deloitte report showed that medical staff spends on average 4,500 hours in giving directions every year. That is a considerable amount of time wasted just on giving directions.

Lost patients and visitors disrupt hospital schedules and workflows, leading to inefficiencies and increased workload.

Navigational difficulties heighten stress and dissatisfaction among patients. Efficient wayfinding is crucial for patient safety, especially in emergency situations.

Three Main Reasons Why People Get Lost in Hospitals

1. Complex Hospital Layouts: Hospitals often have intricate, sometimes maze-like structures with long corridors which look similar and multiple wings, making navigation challenging for patients, visitors, and even staff.

2. Inadequate Signage and Wayfinding Systems: Traditional signage and wayfinding tools are frequently insufficient, leading to confusion and difficulty in locating destinations within the hospital.

3. Lack of Pre-Visit Information and Real-Time Guidance: The absence of effective pre-visit directions and real-time navigational assistance exacerbates the confusion, especially for first-time visitors.

Assessment of the Costs of Getting Lost in Hospitals

• Financial Impact: Wayfinding issues can cost hospitals significantly, with studies showing expenses up to $500,000 annually at due to staff assisting lost individuals and other related inefficiencies. Missed appointments due to navigational difficulties add to this burden, with the NHS losing almost £1 billion annually.

• Operational and Staff Impact: Staff spend substantial time assisting lost patients, leading to lost productivity and increased workload. This can result in staff burnout and compromised patient care.

• Patient Experience and Safety: Patients experiencing stress and confusion due to poor navigation can have longer hospital stays and increased health risks.

In summary, inefficient hospital wayfinding systems lead to significant financial costs, operational challenges, and negative impacts on patient experience and safety.

Case for wayfinding

Wayfinding is a multidisciplinary design profession, combining cognitive behavior, information design, and user experience. It enhances the process of finding your way to a destination in a familiar or unfamiliar setting by using cues from the environment.

The goal of wayfinding is to create a unique and seamless journey by showing the right information at the right time. A comprehensive and bespoke wayfinding system where patients and visitors can orientate, navigate, and locate destinations in a building or environment.

Holistic wayfinding approach

A holistic wayfinding approach that reduces stress and costs while creating a seamless journey experience in hospitals should include:

• Integrated Digital and Physical Signage: Combining clear, large physical signs with digital solutions (like interactive maps and mobile apps) ensures accessibility and real-time guidance for all users​​​​.
• Personalized Navigation Assistance: Utilizing technology such as QR codes, WiFi triangulation, or beacons for real-time, personalized navigation can cater to individual needs and reduce the likelihood of getting lost​​​​.
• Pre-visit and On-site Information: Providing detailed pre-visit directions and on-site information desks or volunteers can help orient visitors upon arrival and throughout their visit, addressing wayfinding issues effectively​​.

This approach combines technology, human assistance, and clear physical markers to create an environment where patients and visitors can navigate hospital spaces more confidently and efficiently.

Design for today and plan for the Future

Our vision for Wayfinding is an integrated information platform that creates an on-demand and personalized user experience. Our approach seeks to improve people’s understanding of the built environment by implementing identity, urban design, and wayfinding strategies.

Key takeaways

• People first — User-centered information tools
• Integrated — Holistic design approach
• Vision and research — Solving wayfinding problems
• From the place for the place — A unique experience
• Seamless — Extendable and flexible
• Digital — Personalized experiences
• Build design resources — Ensure legacy
• Invest once and wisely — High quality delivers a ROI

Every day, our work helps thousands of people navigate hospitals. We are experts in placemaking and wayfinding.

Starting a website can be a fun journey for some of the tech wizards out there, and a relative nightmare for the rest of us. So before you take a leap of faith and jump-start this project, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. 1.   The aim matters This is where it all begins, your vision. What is your website about? What is it that you would like for your website to showcase? What is the call-to-action you hope your website’s visitors to make? As you answer the above questions, you will be able to utilize

The post 5 Things You Should Keep in Mind Before Starting a Website appeared first on Photoshop Lady.

A beautiful house is never complete without comfortable furniture that coordinates with the style of the home. Furniture transforms a block of stones into a beautiful space that you can then call home. While there are a variety of furniture makers and designers out there, none of them can match up to the style and elegance of mid-century modern furniture. Your home will never look the same again if you just get your furniture from mid-century. Here is why they are that popular.   Vintage Appeal If you want a vintage look in your house, then mid-century got you. You

The post Great Homes with Mid Century Modern Furniture appeared first on Photoshop Lady.

Patrick Razo, also known as Nino, is a Los Angeles-based concept designer and visual development artist. His diverse career spans entertainment design, fashion, and motorcycle design. Before transitioning to entertainment design, Razo spent over 15 years in the fashion industry, where he honed his skills in brand building and product design. More: Artstation, Instagram In […]

Niall Shukla, a remarkably skilled and self-taught artist, creates stunningly intricate portraits on laminated glass by meticulously cracking it with controlled hammer strikes. This unique art form is paradoxical and captivating; Shukla wields various metal hammers and chisels to chip away at glass panels, generating cracks that eventually transform into beautifully detailed images. His technique […]

Ben J, is a digital artist. He creates a compelling and narrative rich atmosphere that keeps the audience stimulated. He specializes on the fantasy art, especially on the lands and the landscapes that create almost a movie effect. The color schemes of each of the works are intricate and complex, with dim lights and lots […]

Sadan Vague is a Ukrainian concept artist and sculptor renowned for his intricate creature designs and surreal sculptures. With several years of experience in a small indie game studio, he has honed his skills in both digital and traditional mediums. His works features a diverse array of works, including 3D models and traditional sculptures, highlighting […]

DannyLaiLai is a Chinese artist from Beijing, recognized for his traditional oil paintings and digital artworks that blend ethereal aesthetics with realistic elements. His portfolio includes a variety of subjects, from serene landscapes to intimate portraits, all characterized by a delicate interplay of light and shadow. More: Artstation

Anthony Ventura, an award-winning Canadian artist, is known for his highly detailed and expressive illustrated portraits. A graduate of Sheridan College’s Illustration program, he has worked with major clients like Playboy, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, Doritos, and ESPN, with standout celebrity pieces featuring Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Nikki Sixx that showcase his exceptional linework […]

Sylvain Sarrailh is a French illustrator and concept artist with over a decade of experience in the video game and film industries. He has collaborated with prominent companies such as Ubisoft, Rocksteady, Amplitude, Psyop, Oculus, Insomniac Games, Sony Pictures, and DreamWorks. Sarrailh’s portfolio showcases a diverse range of vibrant and detailed artworks, reflecting his versatility […]

Tritan Ventures from Ann Arbor, Michigan designed the A2, an aerodynamically advanced vehicle with a drag coefficient of 0.15 and stability from airfoils that produced a sail effect for added thrust. Constructed from fiberglass with a monocoque design, the lightweight 900-pound A2 was powered by a 440cc Syvaro rotary engine, delivering 30 horsepower and achieving […]

Have you been looking for the best WooCommerce WordPress theme to open an online store but you’re not sure what to look for? With a WooCommerce WordPress theme you can sell any digital or physical product and it can take very little time to setup your theme and place your products on sale.            Finding the […]

The post Top 10 WooCommerce Themes (2022 edition) appeared first on WebAppers.

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Blog post excerpt [1-2 lines]. This text is automatically pulled from your existing blog post.

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Learn how to use Template Part and Query Loop patterns to provide users with more design options.

Unless you graduated from college in the last 5 years, chances are the job titles have changed significantly.  A decade ago there was no such thing as a “social media manager” or a “digital content strategist.”  Now just about every company has people doing those jobs, whether they work under those titles or not.  Sure, […]

The post Salaries For Digital Marketing Creatives first appeared on TECH Intelligence and is written by Brian Wallace.

As businesses adopt digital to be more efficient, stay ahead of the curve and meet changing demands, their IT teams are faced with the growing challenge of supporting the software infrastructure. Due to the high costs of employing software developers and the scarcity of capable programmers, the pressure on IT teams has become enormous. As...

The post What is the Future of Citizen Development in Modern Businesses? appeared first on noupe.

The Internet of Things (IoT) transforms industries, businesses, and daily life by connecting physical devices to the Internet, enabling real-time data exchange and automated operations. From smart homes to industrial automation, the applications of Internet of Things are vast, providing numerous advantages in terms of efficiency, convenience, and cost savings. This article explores the top...

The post Top 9 Applications of Internet of Things and Its Examples appeared first on noupe.

Typography is a core element of web design that impacts how easily people can read and engage with your content.  Your message and brand identity stand out when you have a font that draws the eye in.  When you know how to use web typography principles to grab attention, you can transform a good-looking website...

The post Mastering the Art of Web Typography: Enhancing Readability and Brand Identity appeared first on noupe.

Any kind of marketing approach that gives you a deeper insight into your customers has the potential to help you make stronger connections with them. Psychographic segmentation is a perfect example. Unlike demographic or behavioral segmentation, it goes into depth about what makes your customers tick, which means you can better understand how to reach...

The post What Is Psychographic Segmentation and How Can It Boost Engagement? appeared first on noupe.

If you have a profitable side hustle, you’ve probably considered taking your business full-time. However, before you take the leap and transition to life as a full-time entrepreneur, there are a few things you should do. Some tasks are simple, like opening a business bank account and setting concrete goals. Others, like building a professional...

The post 8 Things to Do Before Transitioning Your Small Business From a Side Hustle to Full-Time appeared first on noupe.

Creating an infinite horizontal logo scroll effect with pure CSS is a simple yet powerful way to add dynamic movement to a website. This tutorial will walk you through building an infinite scroll effect with added hover effects that allow the user to pause scrolling and scale each logo slightly when hovered.

Let’s create a Breakout game using Vanilla JavaScript. In a Breakout game, the player uses a paddle to bounce a ball and hit bricks, removing the bricks one by one.

About 3 years back we as a Web Design and Development Company, decided to chose WordPress as the only platform we will develop blog/websites on. The progress since then proves that our decision was right. Some of the achievements of WordPress as underlined by Matt in the recent Wordcamp in San Francisco and what it […]

I had some transactions to do on Paypal and I have tried opening it but it simply wont load – nothing happens on the page actually. So I called up my friends in Europe and India and it was the same result for them. I went to Pingdom and according to it the site is […]

1. Low Cost to start with: Its open source and thus the platform itself is free to use and develop on – starting on WordPress is like less than half the cost of custom developing from scratch or using any other robust CMS. 2. Additional Functionality with Plugins: WordPress community is huge and developing everyday […]

There are a lot of Twitter widgets for WordPress but in my experience none of those utilize the powerful SimplePie PHP class that is in the WordPress core. SimplePie is a powerful RSS reader class that has very nice built-in caching system since as we all know the Twitter API is limited to only 150 […]

In the second part of this tutorial we will extend the widget with more options. Let’s start by defining what sort of options we want it to have. Show timestamps Discover Hyperlinks Discover @replies Discover avatar Followers count You can download the extended plug-in here. Step 1: Getting the form ready for the new options […]

You are searching for jQuery sliders? Search no more, here we have composed a list of the best slider that you can find on the internet. Some of them are free and very customizable and some of them are worth spending some money to achieve your goal. Rhinoslider This slider offers many different effects, you […]

Learn how to find guest posting sites with effective strategies to boost SEO, build authority, and reach new audiences in your niche.

I had been considering whether to start up a personal newsletter. I subscribe to friends’ letters, in which they describe the various goings on in their life—family, house projects, travel, etc. As an email, it feels more intimate.

Couldn’t what I say in an email also be said on the blog? Which led me to consider a number of things…

With social media, we can see who follows us. Sure, there’s no guarantee our posts will make their way into their algorithm. Maybe they’re not online this week. Yet, we can see their names and know that they have a likelihood of seeing them.

A newsletter is quite similar. There’s a subscriber list and we can see every name that’s on it. Sure, they can be busy and archive it without reading it. The email can get caught in a spam filter. Yet, people want to fill their already busy inboxes with what you have to say and are likely to read it.

For anything impersonal, like brand marketing, promotions, or sales, it makes sense and is highly advantageous to know who your audience is. When I sold a book, it was useful to be able to market to those who bought the book to buy the workshop. It was useful to market to those to come to a conference.

Blogging feels detached from the audience. I can write knowing that nobody or anybody might be reading it. I can write for me and hope the words resonate. And having taken analytics off, I have absolutely no idea if anything resonates. It’s like putting artwork up in a museum. Each person gets to enjoy it in their own time and in their own way and the artist is likely never to know. Unless you say something to me, I have no idea if you’ve read these very words. [People would approach me at conferences and mention something going on in my life and I would briefly think, “How do you know about that?!” Only to remember that I had written about it publicly.]

What’s likely evident based on the mere title of this post is the conclusion that blogging is to an anonymous audience. I can guess who my audience is but I will never truly know. Not only will I not know who my audience is when I initially post, I won’t know who my audience might be at some point down the road.

I might still start up a newsletter but in the meantime and until then, I’m enjoying the process of writing to an unknown audience.

There’s a certain simplicity to the life of the harried and married with children: the nuclear family with two and a half kids. The day to day is predictably unpredictable with its routines: breakfast, lunch, dinner, work, meetings, daycare, changings, sports, mid-night feedings, music lessons, and so on and so on, day in and day out.

And then we split.

Divorce established two worlds. In one world, I was a parent, taking care of two kids and all the aforementioned duties and then some. The other world, I was single and child-less, relatively free from parenting responsibilities.

That other life was like another dimension: a life spent in the future but only for a few days at a time—days that were often spent in another city, another country, another continent. “Once the kids are on their own, I can travel farther, for longer. Maybe I’ll move somewhere.”

Pre-pandemic, deep within a relationship with a woman from one of those other cities in one of those other countries, I was at the peak of being split in two—being asked to rearrange schedules—defragging the calendar, as it were—to maximize the segments of time in this alternate dimension.

Fifteen years post-separation, I find myself on the cusp of the past meeting the future and returning to a one-dimensional world. My eldest is planning to move out soon. My youngest has one more year of high school left. My ex has relinquished control of the rigid schedules we clung to for a decade and a half.

I still have commitments and obligations. There’s still school and work drop-offs and pick-ups. The schedule has become like a Rorschach test, unclear from week to week or day to day.

Eventually, shortly, the two lives will converge back into one. The nest will be empty and I’ll no longer be split.

Introduction Competition in the gaming services industry is growing, and boosting websites face the challenge of attracting more players and convincing them to use services like WoW raid boost. One way to attract customers is through smart and well-thought-out design. In this article, we will explore the importance of web design in this field and […]

The post Web design as an important part of a gaming services website appeared first on Designer Daily: graphic and web design blog.

As a designer, there are endless opportunities between your creation potential and your usual clients. With the growing demand for visual expertise, the possibility of earning more and increasing income is growing. By specializing in graphic design, web development, or UX/UI, you open doors to new ways of developing your revenues. Selling design templates, coaching, […]

The post 5 Ways to Make More Money with Your Design Skills appeared first on Designer Daily: graphic and web design blog.

So, you’ve got your business website up and running, but it feels like it’s missing a little something. Maybe the speed isn’t quite there, or you need more features to really enhance user experience.  Sounds familiar? Don’t worry—plugins can help with that. Plugins are like the extra tools you didn’t know you needed. They boost […]

The post Top 8 Must-Have Plugins to Supercharge Your Business Website appeared first on Designer Daily: graphic and web design blog.

Understanding the software that powers a website can be invaluable for web developers, digital marketers, and business owners alike when they want to analyze their competition. The process of building and maintaining a website is ongoing; it involves constant updates, feature enhancements, and user experience improvements. As you navigate the digital landscape, you may find […]

The post 3 Tools That Will Let You Examine What Software Your Competitors’ Websites Are Built With appeared first on Designer Daily: graphic and web design blog.

A brand new kind of design bundle has just dropped over at Design Cuts. Curated Collections are mini bundles of 4 related products for just $10, saving up to 90%. You’ll find collections of brushes, fonts, illustrations and more for Procreate, Photoshop and other art and design software. Which ones are your favourites? Each curated […]

The post 4 Products for $10! Pick Your Favourites and Save Up to 90% Off appeared first on Spoon Graphics.

Unwrap a hamper full of fresh art and design tools with this festive-themed bundle! The Winter Wonderbox has everything you need—from frosty watercolor cliparts and shimmering textures to heartfelt greeting cards and fun ugly sweater effects. This collection is perfect for the holidays and will keep you inspired for Christmases yet to come. Don’t miss […]

The post Treat Yourself to an Early Gift With The Winter Wonderbox appeared first on Spoon Graphics.