{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T20:18:24Z","timestamp":1777666704825,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,14]],"date-time":"2020-05-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1589414400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["HERD"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This article is a report on the quantitative data collected from patients, family members, and visitors using the outpatient areas of three hospitals in Portugal. It details the users\u2019 views regarding the existing signage and presents suggestions to improve the design and implementation of the signage systems. A questionnaire was used with 1,287 respondents. The results showed that almost all users had a positive opinion regarding the current signage. However, some of the users\u2019 answers and observed behaviors indicated that the majority tended to ignore the signs and preferred to ask staff for help. Additionally, when asked for suggestions, many of the respondents were able to point out existing problems that affected their wayfinding. Although the signage was generally evaluated as good, many of the users perceived a variety of problems and, as already mentioned, asked the staff for directions, which results in lost time and hidden costs for the institutions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1937586720924761","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,14]],"date-time":"2020-05-14T06:28:41Z","timestamp":1589437721000},"page":"36-53","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Users\u2019 Perceptions of Signage Systems at Three Portuguese Hospitals"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Rita","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Ci\u00eancia e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Engenharia Mec\u00e2nica e Engenharia Industrial, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Rita","family":"Coelho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ESMAD\u2014Escola Superior de Media Artes e Design, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico do Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7603-6526","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o Manuel R. S.","family":"Tavares","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Ci\u00eancia e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Engenharia Mec\u00e2nica e Engenharia Industrial, Departamento de Engenharia Mec\u00e2nica, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1937586720924761","unstructured":"Berger C. (2010). Universal symbols in health care workbook\u2014Best practices for sign systems. 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Wayfinding for healthcare services (pp. 15\u201378). Health Infrastructure."},{"key":"bibr220-1937586720924761","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0142-694X(96)00001-4"},{"key":"bibr18-1937586720924761","unstructured":"Potter J. S. (2017). Best practices for wayfinding in a hospital setting [MSc thesis]. Retrieved from https:\/\/scholarsbank.uoregon.edu\/xmlui\/bitstream\/handle\/1794\/22565\/Potter2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y"},{"key":"bibr19-1937586720924761","unstructured":"Rodrigues R. (2019). Healthcare signage design: Guidelines to support the development of signage systems centered on the users [PhD, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto]. 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