Wayfinding: Important to take the ideas further

- I have worked in hospital services in 35 years and it's the first time that I see a solution as simple as this to a problem that has been around for ages, namely that patients and relatives get lost. Even the staff gets lost, says MD Bo Lunddal Krogh.

The employees involved in the work stress how important it is that they are allowed to take the ideas to the next level. 

- Let Middelfart Hopsital carry the torch so we can share our experiences with other hospitals, one of them said.

The management at Hospital Lillebælt witnessed the presentation, and Hospital Director Niels Nørgaard Pedersen mentioned that the collaboration with Design School Kolding has been so satisfactory that the project might consider hiring PhDs, Predocs and Postdocs to help collect more knowledge.

Rector of Design School Kolding Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen emphasised that the project marks the beginning of journey with the users.

– Normally, knowledge is collected in closed forums. We try to create a Living Lab. This is a whole new way of gaterhing knowledge. We develop prototypes with you, and have made a decision which you can look at and assess if you want to take further, she said.

Opponents give praise and suggestions
Architect Anne Corlin presented the project and two opponents commented. One was Architect Birgitte Juel Lau Eriksen from Hospital Lillebælt and the other was Designer and Architect Mads Quistgaard who is Affiliate Professor at Design School Kolding. Birgitte Juel Lau Eriksen commended the project for its fine testing, fine conclusions, and excellent points but mentioned that the project needs to consider those who do not read well or remember well - and that in her opinion, the lobby needs to be a much calmer place.

Mads Quistgaard called the project ”wildly interesting and brilliant” and is pleased that the project addresses a collective problem: guiding people who are under stress. He warned against using too much light and looks forward to seeing a more prioritised list of instruments.

Good thing it's not all about neatness
Charlotte Toft-Petersen, who is communication coordinator at Hospital Lillebælt, and has been part of the work group, was happy to see the attention to functionality and not all neatness. And Design School Kolding's Head of Development Mette Mikkelsen underlined the fact that now, the hospital and its users have now been given a suggestion which they must consider.

– It's a prototype and we hope to be able to make another loop, she said.

And indeed the reception suggests willingness to continue with the project.

- We need the brand: You're going to Middelfart; you're going to the blue section. We must figure out a way, said Bo Lunddal Krogh. And when that gets settled, he wants to think big: technology, a PhD students who can fill the knowledge gaps about what happens when you arrive to a hospital.