TAKEAWAY: Ever got lost finding the right department during a hospital visit? Or, better yet, ever found yourself lost while surfing a news website? The similarities and functionalities are quite amazing.
So hospital design needs a cure for lack of functionality, or, as an article in The Wall Street Journal describes, a way to make sure that patients don’t get lost for intensive care, turn left at the sculpture and realize that the sign that reads Otoralyngoly is where they need to go for ear, nose and throat complaints.
Nice, and it reminds us of our recent blog post about information architecture (and a chat with information arcthiecture expert Oliver Reichenstein).
Indeed, navigating a hospital maze of twists and turns, or doing so around a website or digital app, are not too far apart.
At hospitals, patients often complain about poor signage. The WSJ article points out that “confusing layouts can result from years of hospital renovations and building additions.”
The same is true of such additions at websites that get “rejuvenated” and redesigned from time to time, but without their navigation and information architecture getting a look over.
One sentence from the WSJ piece rings true with anyone who has ever worked on a newspaper website:
“Confusing layouts can result from years of hospital renovations and building additions. “
To me, the redesign of a website begins with an assessment and evaluation of how navigation is working for users. That precedes the look & feel concerns that too often dominate in a project.
This piece about hospital design makes the point clear. And, while patients seeking treatment may try a little harder to navigate obstacles, your news website audience is not likely to be in such a hurry to get to its destination.
A good point to keep in mind as you design that next website.
