A lean approach to enhance the visual experience during wayfinding in the emergency department spaces: a case study of a large-scale general hospital in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT The wayfinding experience in the healthcare environment significantly impacts patients’ spatial cognition, mental health, and medical outcomes. However, patients often face challenges in wayfinding, encountering difficulties, and information gaps that result in negative emotions and decreased efficiency of medical services. This study proposes a Lean-led approach, coupled with eye-tracking simulation software analysis, to investigate the visual behavior of patients in the emergency department spaces and identify areas in medical environments that require improvement. The research methodology involves capturing images of 70 location nodes along the patient's route in ED spaces. Subsequently, the Lean tool, Value Stream Mapping, is employed to analyze the wayfinding process, dividing it into eight tasks and determining the visual information needs of patients during wayfinding. Moreover, the eye-tracking simulation software, 3M-VAS, is utilized to analyze the visual content of images and compare whether it meets the information needs of patients during wayfinding, thus identifying locations that require optimization. Finally, suggestions for optimization are proposed. The study identifies five types of visual environment problems during the wayfinding process and identifies 50 location nodes that need improvement, categorized into five types of visual environment issues. This paper explores how Lean theory can enhance the relevance of a patient-centered healthcare environment and introduces a methodology that connects hospital administrators and designers. However, this paper also has some limitations, such as the research scope, method, and angle, that need more exploration.