Empathize

 

• For 2 days, we observed patients in the ophthalmologist department who were referred for tests at the lab, located on another floor of the hospital building.

• Alongside the medical paperwork, the patients were given hospital maps for guidance.

• We measured how long it took them to get to the lab, taking special note of how many times they referred to the map, observed the signage system, and asked for guidance from hospital staff. 

• On the third day, we shadowed hospital reception staff, listened to verbal directions they gave to customers and observed how easy it was for the patients to follow the directions.

 

Define

 

• The team met to unpack observations:

  • The English maps were not as detailed as the Korean maps, making it hard for non-Korean speaking patients to navigate.

  • All hospital signs were in Korean. 

  • The reception staff could only speak Korean.

  • There were no standardized landmarks for reference points, therefore, while some staff gave directions based on wings, others gave directions based on buildings.

 

Ideate 

 

• Through analogous comparison, we identified airports as a reference social environment for a navigation solution for multicultural travelers.

 

Prototype

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• Following the universal signage guidelines used in airports, we developed new signage systems that were more image-based than text-based. 

 

Test

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• To measure the effectiveness of the new signage system, we focused on the same pre-intervention metrics (duration of navigation from the ophthalmologist department to the lab, number of times the patient referenced the map, number of times one observed the signs, and number of times patient asked for help from hospital staff).

• Our focus group was older (+40 years) and illiterate patients.

• Reiterations were conducted based on feedback gathered from patients and hospital staff.