Design a flexible system of signs to enable patients, staff and visitors to easily find their way around with a particular focus on toilet signage, wayfinding and marking out female and male bays. Design for Patient Dignity - Brief 6a/7
Colour coded signs show patients which toilets, bathrooms and wards are for men or women. The signs can be easily changed by staff when needed.
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Designers: Helen Hamlyn Centre, Royal College of Art
How it works
The signage system uses colour and icons to make it easy for patients to see and understand it. Blue and orange signs can be attached to doors and walls and, importantly, they protrude above bathroom and toilet doors so patients can see from a distance which are designated male and female. The signs are also lit at night so patients can see them in low lighting conditions.
The same system used for bathrooms and toilets is also used on wards to show patients which rooms are designated sleeping areas for men or women. The signs can be flipped over and locked in place so hospital staff can quickly reassign bathrooms, toilets or rooms to different sexes.
The issue in context
Hospitals can be large and confusing places, and navigation can be difficult, especially for patients who are very ill and confused. Sometimes, improvised hospital signage can actually make things more confusing for patients.
The designers’ insights
In their hospital visits, the design team saw instances where signage was unclear, especially when spaces were being used flexibly. Existing signs were so difficult to change that staff had to add laminated print outs meaning that patients didn’t know which sign to believe. Conversely other signs were so easy to change deliberately or accidentally — such as slide mechanisms on male and female toilet signs — that it was hard for staff to maintain same-sex bathroom facilities.