Task One

Analysis

Before we begin the creation and design of a new wayfinding program, our team starts with an analysis of the existing environment and your culture. Your dedicated Corbin Design team members will assemble a Core Team to navigate the wayfinding program development process and oversee approvals. Beginning the process with a strong analysis creates a foundation for all of the wayfinding touchpoints in the program.

The final deliverable for this task is a Wayfinding Recommendations Summary document that includes: a review of the analysis findings; high-level wayfinding recommendations; the proposed wayfinding logic/strategy that will help simplify your complex environment; site and floor plans showing entrances, preferred circulation routes, elevators, and primary destinations; and a destination list with recommended terminology that is easy for the layperson to understand.

Stakeholder Engagement

In addition to the Core Team we collaborate with throughout the process, we work with you to identify and engage with key stakeholders in the final wayfinding program. In-person meetings begin by giving stakeholders an introduction to wayfinding and the goals of the new program, and then we listen and absorb their experiences with any current infrastructure and identify what makes navigating their specific environment unique. We also conduct virtual stakeholder surveys with both quantitative and qualitative questions to reach a wider audience than those who may be able to attend in-person. By engaging with stakeholders early in the process and learning from their insight, we believe that they will help better support the future wayfinding program that is developed. 

Wayfinding Logic

After kicking off a new project through a combination of reviewing site plans and floor plans, meeting with the core team, engaging with stakeholders, and experiencing the environment through the perspective of a first-time visitor, our team will further research and develop the wayfinding analysis. We’ll work together to review existing communications given to patients and visitors, the terminology used, circulation routes that are currently supported and preferred, and more. 

Circulation Routes 

Circulation plans are developed using existing site and floor plans. We identify entrances, parking options, building entrances, public elevators, and primary public destinations, and then determine the best routes to support with direction-giving information. Understanding the logical progression of the visitor experience, and the relationship between spaces helps us identify key decision points where wayfinding support is needed. Developing the circulation flow for visitors in the public spaces lays the groundwork for the documentation of where physical signage will eventually be located and helps develop the scripting used in various pre-visit communications. 

Destination List

Consistent language and terminology are imperative to an effective wayfinding system. We work with you to identify the formal destination names, informal references to areas or districts, and any additional labels that are being used for destinations or landmarks. Then we develop a suggested destination list for all primary public destinations with simple, intuitive names to be used throughout the system. Frequently in healthcare settings, we’ll observe difficult technical names being used and causing confusion and wayfinding difficulties. Using simplified, everyday language for the content of the wayfinding system is important as it should reflect the language the visitor or patient uses to make decisions. The destination list becomes the wayfinding program’s “source of truth”, and as changes are made in the future, the destination list is updated to reflect those changes and reference where the system needs to be updated.

Wayfinding Recommendations Summary Document Examples