wayfinding; hospital; spatial abilities; gender; age; smartphone navigation

In this paper, we map navigational needs and preferences of patients and visitors toevaluate the appropriateness of a smartphone navigation application in the hospital in contrastto other, more traditional navigational cues. We test the effects of sociodemographic variables(age, gender, education) on wayfinding strategies and preferences of respondents (using chi2 tests).Empirical research is based on the survey among 928 patients/visitors of the Vítkovice Hospital inOstrava, Czechia. We found a relatively weak association between gender and wayfinding-no majordifferences between men and women in navigational preferences were found. Age was the most important predictor of wayfinding. Respondents in the over-60-year age group were characteristic of a lower interest in changes of the navigational system and low willingness to use mobile applicationsfor navigation-people between 41 years and 60 years were the biggest supporters of changes.