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Images and materials documenting the signage system at Sihlfeld Cemetery in Zurich Switzerland. These images give additional context for the article "The Journey to the Grave - Evaluating a Swiss Wayfinding System Using Shadowing Techniques" by Klingemann et al. Photos by Nicole Hametner.

Signage is an aid to wayfinding and individual orientation in both organisations and everyday life. It aims to respond to users’ needs. Whether or not it actually succeeds in this can only be empirically verified by an evaluation that is tailored to the context in question. Spacious cemeteries are a particularly interesting case, as they are a place both of mourning and of relaxation. When visitors in a fragile emotional state want to find their way to a grave, they have to be able to depend on particularly effective signage. The present study of a pilot project at the Zurich Sihlfeld Cemetery in 2022/2023 uses a “shadowing” methodology in such a context for the first-ever time. This is because other common approaches to evaluating signage are inappropriate here for ethical reasons – whether these be surveys, giving test subjects specific search tasks, or using eye-tracking. We observed and assessed 49 target persons across all the segments of the cemetery in their general orientation behaviour, the degree to which they consulted the signage offered, and their use of other aids on their way to the burial in question. We used our observations to analyse deviations from the ideal access routes; our photographic records provide us with a basis for further optimisation measures.

Introduction : Harm reduction programmes for drug addicts are well documented and accepted by practitioners, whereas harm reduction programmes for alcohol addicts are under researched and encounter resistance. The article presents the results of a qualitative study focused on the perception of two case studies of drinking under control programmes (DUCPs) by outpatient treatment providers working in abstinence-focused Polish alcohol treatment system. Material and methods : The 26 alcohol addiction professionals were participants of four focus group interviews (FGI), which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were coded and analysed using ATLAS.ti software (version 7.5.9). Results : Three types of barriers were identified: (1) prevailing orientation towards abstinence and related images of addiction; (2) difficulties to match client profiles with the DUCPs characteristics; (3) cultural norms related to historical features and collective memories in Poland as a post-communist country. Discussion : The provision of alcohol as breaking a taboo remained the centre of critique, even when linked with work as an important societal value, and regardless of the harm reduction perspective and outcomes of DUCPs, to which there was only marginal reference. Conclusions : Treatment counsellors in an abstinence dominated treatment system, as the case of Poland shows, see no chances for the implementation of DUCPs and identify both cultural and addiction-related barriers (i.e. the lack of acceptance for providing alcohol). At the same time, they recognise the potential of DUCPs in terms of the importance of harm reduction measures and pragmatism of a bottom up perspective.