Interior design elements influence on users’ wayfinding capacity in a Swedish hospital setting

Wayfinding has been recognized as an important aspect that should be carefully considered, especially in the design of healthcare facilities. Previous studies have identified environmental elements that influence wayfinding, but there is still a lack of understanding on which properties of environmental elements and features that has the potential to aid wayfinding in hospital areas (Pati, Harvey, Willis & Pati, 2015). This pilot study examined the potential of interior design elements (including artwork) to support the participants’ ability to navigate in one of the reception halls at SUS Malmö hospital. In order to focus on the wordless wayfinding capacity, two subject categories were participating, 1) Arabic speaking visitors; 2) and Swedish speaking visitors. The participants, 4 females and 7 males, responded to a questionnaire in dialogue with the researcher. The data analysis showed that artworks, plants, skylight, furniture, wooden material on walls, and a tilted reception cube were the most eye-catching physical elements associated with wayfinding. Written signs were seen as helpful but sometimes useless due to the fact that they are written only in the Swedish language, whereas artworks was the common language between most of the participants and therefore interesting to further explore. Since the majority of the participants disliked the artworks in the reception hall, the influence of aesthetic preferences on wayfinding could possibly be a fruitful path of further investigation.