Focus group participants react to precedent symbols and messaging
Based on the focus groups’ reactions, all-gender restroom users greatly preferred neutral symbols that were equal in visual treatment to those of traditional men's and women's restrooms. (Note: dots indicate an individual respondent's reaction.)
All-Gender Restroom Symbol Design
Restroom wayfinding symbol family, developed as part of the Harvey Milk Terminal 1 Expansion project at San Francisco International Airport.
The all-gender restroom symbol was developed as the result of a months-long research process, including several focus groups bringing the myriad of user group communities into the design process. The symbol simply portrays the restrooms toilet fixture with the universal “RESTROOM” text identifier. In the spirit of equality that emerged from the focus groups, we revised the traditional gendered restroom symbols by pairing the toilet symbol with the historical men and women symbols—in effect identifying the gendered restrooms as the ones with certain identification requirements, instead of the all-gender restroom.
To read more about the process to design an inclusive an effective symbol for all-gender restrooms, click here.
Project completed at Gensler San Francisco