Inside Duke Medicine

Carefully designed floor plans, signage to ease navigation in the Cancer Center

Large signs, like the example shown, will be located near elevator doors to ease navigation of the Cancer Center.

Thanks to thoughtful planning, the Cancer Center features a simple floor plan, visual cues and descriptive signage that will guide patients, visitors and employees throughout the new state-of-the-art facility.

The entire building was designed with a simple floor plan, so patients will make their way through the facility with a minimum number of steps from entrance to exit. The elevator bank is at the heart of the building and serves as a navigational point of reference, shortening the distance that patients need to travel to reach each clinic. Each floor also utilizes a grid-like pattern with short, straight hallways, many of them ending in windows, to minimize confusion.

The building’s finishes will also serve as visual cues. Nurse stations will be identified by wallpaper that is a distinctive color and the elevator bank is marked with dark marble.

To complement the building’s layout, much consideration was given to the building’s signage and the incorporation of other elements to aid navigation through the building.

“We wanted there to be a very thoughtful and deliberate method for guiding patients through the Cancer Center, and felt it would be most advantageous to involve patients throughout the planning period,” said Monte Brown, M.D., Duke University Health System vice president for administration. “This helped us validate some of our assumptions and gave us insight as to where we could improve the navigation process.”

In October, the operations team recruited patients and volunteers to participate in a test where paper signs were posted throughout the Cancer Center. Participants were given sample patient appointment information and asked to navigate through the facility.

Two of the participants, Laurence and Elizabeth DeCarolis, have been volunteers with the Patient Support Program since 1989. At the ages of 80 and 79, respectively, the couple agreed they represented an older demographic, one that needed to be represented during the test.

“We were given a list of five destinations that we were to locate using the experimental signage. We were only able to reach three of them, and offered suggestions for improvement,” said Elizabeth DeCarolis. “After the test, we felt like our thoughts and suggestions were taken seriously and carefully considered.”

In addition, many of the participants offered suggestions regarding the location of signs, color schemes, letter sizing and naming conventions.