After an on-site audit of the patient experience, it was clear that an overtly branded graphic interface was necessary to cut through the urban clutter — and to unify the signage across campuses shared by individual entities, UCSF and the UCSF Medical Center. The identity concept for a system name, "Pathway," makes overt visual reference to the plan to define public pathways with a circular floor treatment. The concept also allows spoken directions to be as simple as, "Follow the Pathway to...," thereby eliminating the need for "right, then left, down the hall, across the street, etc."

Early concept solutions addressed Pathway elements in the facilities' interiors...

...and along the city streets connecting UCSF buildings in the midst of San Francisco. Photoshop montages helped communicate the concepts to a large client committee.

Several rounds of on-site testing of design concepts involved full-scale paper mock-ups, and patient shadowing and interviews. One round of testing focused on non-English-speaking patients and visitors with print materials produced in Mandarin, Spanish, and Polish.

We directed the graphic design development of the Pathway brand standards, grids, and information displays in conjunction with colleagues who focused on the details and fabrication economies of a modular system.

The graphic standards for the program include icons and symbols, all tested with patients and visitors for legibility and usability.

The Pathway sign family includes form and information design for exterior vehicular directionals, exterior pedestrian directions, and a complete interior package.

The complex information requirements of the interior signs — and the variety of existing architectural conditions which house them — demand a modular approach. Inset graphic panels follow a strict information hierarchy using UCSF-standard Helvetica and a strong underlying grid.

The visual presentation of the maps used throughout signage, print and digital applications was developed and tested on-site with patients. Master map files were created in Illustrator and can be rotated to the proper "up on the map is ahead of you" orientation.

A folded, pocket-sized guide to each campus is available to visitors and patients. The front side shows each campus' location within San Francisco and offers visual and verbal driving directions to a particular campus' drop-off and parking facilities.

The back side of the pocket map lists the public destinations and amenities along with their nearest landmark/elevator. All landmark elevators are accessible via the primary Pathway.

With a new wayfinding systems comes the need to train staff and volunteers to use the signs and tools. This small brochure highlights the components of the program and explains how the signage, digital, and print components work together to create an intuitive system for patients and visitors. The project is being implemented by fd2s at two UCSF sites in 2010.