Hospital Design and Wayfinding

A videotape simulation of the entrance drive to the new University of Michigan Hospital was used to test the effect on turning behavior of constructing a parking deck entrance directly off the hospital's drop-off circle. One hundred randomly sampled visitors were shown this videotape and asked where they would turn, if they were coming alone to visit a patient and needed to park their car. There were several turn-off areas along the entrance drive before the parking deck turn-off. Each turn-off had a sign listing its respective functions and directed drivers to continue straight ahead for parking. Half the visitors saw a videotape in which there was an entrance to the deck from the drop-off circle, and half saw a tape in which the entrance from the drop-off circle was absent. Each visitor saw two scenarios, one having the drop-off circle crowded with cars, and one uncrowded. The results of the study showed that the presence of the entrance to the deck from the drop-off circle did make a significant difference in reported turning behavior. The results of this study had a direct impact on the subsequent design decision. In addition, the results of this study are meaningful beyond the data themselves. The study used an inexpensive, simple, and highly imageable research technique, yet one rarely used in environment-behavior research. It was a "quick turn-around" research effortthat resolved a specific design dilemma. The study also demonstrates that signs alone are not sufficient to guide wayfinding behavior in large complex environments like hospitals.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67736/2/10.1177_0013916585173002.pd

Using the physical properties of artefacts to manage through‐life knowledge flows in the built environment: an initial exploration

Effective through‐life management of built facilities requires effective through‐life knowledge management to support it. The KIM (Immortal Information and Through‐Life Knowledge Management) project attempted to develop such an approach, based on a dichotomy of knowledge and information. Knowledge is conceived in terms of communities of practice. An initial philosophical analysis demonstrates deficiencies in this conception. Drawing inspiration from production theory, a tripartite analysis is offered, suggesting that knowledge flows consist of: social practices, information and physical properties. Literature on physical properties from design studies, production management and ethnomethodology is briefly reviewed to demonstrate the information bearing functions of physical properties. Fieldwork conforming to the unique adequacy requirement of methods was carried out on construction sites, in hotel and hospital facilities during the use stage of their life cycles. Safety barriers on construction sites were found to have informational properties beyond their function as a physical barrier. The quality of information delivered by wayfinding signs was found to depend upon both the physical placement of the signs in relation to the surrounding environment and the physical layout of the sign itself. It was found that social practices are institutionalized to repair the knowledge flow when the physically instantiated wayfinding system breaks down. Finally, through the investigation of practices surrounding emergency resuscitation equipment, it was found that if the physical properties of information are not designed to mesh with the work practices of the setting, this will lead to a breakdown in the knowledge flow. It is suggested that elements of knowledge management, ethnomethodology, production management and design studies might be integrated to form the basis of a hybrid discipline