(really) entrepreneureal

Emergency Rooms have a really bad rap.  Drab, barren of any comfy furniture whatsoever, filled with sick people and, worst of all, usually painted an awful green color.  How fitting.  So when I hit the ER this past week for some stitches to the chin, I wasn’t exactly expecting to have a great time – but just how bad a time, even I would never have guessed.  And interestingly, it had nothing to do with the people – the admin people, nurses and doctor were all more than amiable – but more with the seeming total disregard for basic tenets of design that had gone into the place.  Here, in chronological order, are the design problems I encountered over the course of the evening:

7:35pm

I enter through the front of the hospital from the regular parking lot.  No need for real ER parking, since I’m not about to keel over.  Unfortunately, this means I have to “sign in”.  A quick gesture to my chin grants me automatic access, and I’m off into the bowels of the hospital.

7:37pm

I finally find the ER, which is so unremarkable that I almost miss it.  No sign in desk here, just a huge security desk that is so high I can’t tell if someone’s behind it.  Reminds me of a kids play fort.  Overall, it does nothing to make me feel safe, since I wonder what the security is meant to protect me against.

7:38pm

After looking around the micro waiting room, I eventually notice an unmarked door Read the rest of this entry »