The term ‘wayfinding’ has been commonly used since the 1960s when David Lynch used the term ‘way-finding’ in his seminal book “The Image of the City” (Lynch, 1960).¹ Indeed, Lynch’s book sparked a new interest in how wayfinding works, and how this knowledge can be used in the field in the practice of signing, signage design, or as Per Mollerup (2005)² puts it: “wayshowing”. As a practitioner bridging the fields of graphic and product design, the author has had a long fascination with this field, and with the people and agencies who specialize in it. Furthermore, Lynch’s work marks a milestone in design research methods: it catalyzed studies in many different scientific fields, including psychology, behavioral science, computer science, architecture and planning. In wayfinding projects some of these fields can work together closely, yet the author’s experience and a study of published literature reveals that most are focused on their own special slice of understanding of wayfinding. Finding useful connections between (and points of entry into) these fields of knowledge is part of this thesis’s task.
    This doctoral thesis will focus on the signing (wayfinding and wayshowing) inside hospitals. The exterior signage and navigation on a medical campus are certainly part of the overall task, but will play a subordinate role here. Instead, the work will emphasize interior wayfinding. There are two reasons for this. First, the interiors of hospitals are often anonymous and windowless, which makes them harder to navigate; and second, not every hospital, clinic or medical center is part of a larger medical campus. The intention is two-fold: to expand on the theory and results of past studies, and to provide guidance (models and methods) for making these projects more manageable for stakeholders and practitioners of all kinds.
    To do so the author will draw on a wide body of research in the different fields of knowledge listed above and on observations and research by design practitioners. The observational and on-site research from several hospitals and medical centers made by the author over the last years in Germany provides specific evidence of the situational challenges. Finally, findings will be presented from a long-term experiences of all phases of a signage project for both a newly constructed hospital (opened January 2018) as well as the previously existing building (opened 1972)³. Each structure presented its own particular challenges and represented typical challenges facing hospitals and planners.

1. Lynch, D (1960) Image of the City, Cambridge, Mass. USA, MIT Press, 25th printing 1997, pp. 3-4.

2. Mollerup, P., (2005) Wayshowing, A Guide to Environmental Signage, Principles & Practices, Baden, Switzerland, Lars Müller Publishers, p. 5.

3. Conversation with building construction manager Michael Hoffmann, 2019. Both the older and newer structures are connected on multiple levels. See also: https://www.suedkurier.de/region/kreis-konstanz/konstanz/Spitalstiftung-startet-durch;art372448,9079684

Advisors:

Prof. Dr. Tom Bieling

Prof. Peter Eckart