Avoid these Wayfinding Signage Mistakes at your Carolina Health Care Center

Healthcare centers in the Carolinas need to have effective and well planned out wayfinding signage for patients and personnel, as well as for other visitors like supportive friends and relatives, sales reps, temps, and other people who need to find their way around your healthcare facility.

If your Carolina health care center has ineffective wayfinding signage, this can be mean that visitors will have to depend on staff members to direct them to where they are going. This takes time away from staff members’ other duties.

In addition, if your health care center’s wayfinding signage is too frustrating, there is a chance that visitors may become stressed or anxious. If this happens, they may not return. You certainly do not want that to happen!

Here are some mistakes to avoid when creating your wayfinding signage at your Carolina health care center:

1. Not having a strategic wayfinding plan. It is important to have a wayfinding plan, not simply ordering random signs. Research, walking around the exterior and interior of your health care center taking inventory of current wayfinding signage, knowing the distance from one place to another place, and consulting with a wayfinding designer like we offer here at The Sign Factory are some steps to creating a plan for your wayfinding strategy. A well-executed strategy may take some time and effort, but will ensure that people visiting your Carolina health care center will be more at ease and comfortable when moving from place to place.

2. Inconsistent look. An inconsistent look, like inconsistent fonts, letter heights, colors and graphics can increase anxiety and stress of people that are trying to find their way around your health care center. When people are trying to figure out how to get from one place to another, they rely on consistent signage to guide them.

3. Inconsistent wording. For example, having a wayfinding sign that gives directions to the “Restrooms”, yet other signage uses the term “Bathrooms” or one sign reads “Restaurant” while another reads “Dining” can slow down a person in finding their way. Even though this seems like a small matter when people are in a new location they are scanning signs looking for consistencies so they can easily know which way to go. If different words are used, then people may get lost or confused.

4. Having hard to understand graphics. In healthcare centers, you want to be careful about the graphics that are on your wayfinding signage. The image should be clear and understandable. Contrasting colors help in this area.

5. Clutter. Too many signs, too much wording or too many graphics can be overwhelming to visitors. When people are visiting a health care center, they are usually looking for relief of some sort. Seeing clutter when entering a health care facility does not offer relief, but instead can be stressful. Therefore, be sure not to clutter, but to simplify your signage. Simple signage is much more welcoming and leaves a better first impression.

These four mistakes are just some of the common mistakes that are made when creating wayfinding signage. To avoid these mistakes and others, we are here to help you.

Here at The Sign Factory, we specialize in wayfinding signage for health care centers and other business in the Carolinas, including Charlotte, Wellington, Matthews, Pineville, Steel Creek and Indian Trail areas. We can help you implement a wayfinding strategy so that your visitors find it easy to move from place to place at your facility. In addition, we can design, create and install your wayfinding signage. Essentially, we can take care of your entire wayfinding needs for your business. Simply give us a call at 704-321-0400 to get started.