Comparing written and photo-based indoor wayfinding instructions through eye fixation measures and user ratings as mental effort assessments.

Nico Van De Weghe,Nina Vanhaeren,Philippe De Maeyer,Alain De Wulf,Kristien Ooms,Laure De Cock,Ralph Michels,Pepijn Viaene

doi:10.16910/jemr.12.1.1

Nico Van De Weghe, Nina Vanhaeren + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.16910/jemr.12.1.1

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Abstract

The use of mobile pedestrian wayfinding applications is gaining importance indoors. However, compared to outdoors, much less research has been conducted with respect to the most adequate ways to convey indoor wayfinding information to a user. An explorative study was conducted to compare two pedestrian indoor wayfinding applications, one text-based (SoleWay) and one image-based (Eyedog), in terms of mental effort. To do this, eye tracking data and mental effort ratings were collected from 29 participants during two routes in an indoor environment. The results show that both textual instructions and photographs can enable a navigator to find his/her way while experiencing no or very little cognitive effort or difficulties. However, these instructions must be in line with a user’s expectations of the route, which are based on his/her interpretation of the indoor environment at decision points. In this case, textual instructions offer the advantage that specific information can be explicitly and concisely shared with the user. Furthermore, the study drew attention to potential usability issues of the wayfinding aids (e.g. the incentive to swipe) and, as such, demonstrated the value of eye tracking and mental effort assessments in usability research.

Highlights

The use of mobile pedestrian wayfinding applications (e.g. Insoft, MediNav by Connexient, SPREO Indoor Navigation, Meridian) is a form of wayfinding aid that is omnipresent outdoors and is gaining importance indoors, especially in very large and complex buildings
The results show that both textual instructions and photographs can enable a navigator to find his/her way while experiencing no or very little cognitive effort or difficulties
In order to assess the experienced mental effort linked to the textual route instructions offered by SoleWay on the one hand and Eyedog’s photographic-based instructions on the other hand, both apps are used in a real environment

Summary

Introduction

The use of mobile pedestrian wayfinding applications (e.g. Insoft, MediNav by Connexient, SPREO Indoor Navigation, Meridian) is a form of wayfinding aid that is omnipresent outdoors and is gaining importance indoors, especially in very large and complex buildings. Comparing written and photo-based indoor wayfinding instructions the navigator in an user-friendly and adequate way (Möller et al, 2014). According to Fallah, Apostolopoulos, Bekris and Folmer (2013), an indoor human wayfinding system should include at least four functionalities or components: (1) a (basic) form of localisation, (2) the ability to plan a path and turn it into easy to follow instructions, (3) the ability to retrieve and store different types of information and (4) the ability to interact with a navigator. The user interaction of two indoor wayfinding smartphone applications, that are available to the public, will be compared and form the topic of this paper, namely SoleWay and Eyedog (Indoor Navigation). The SoleWay platform will provide the user with all descriptions of routes that lead to that destination and are in the vicinity of the user or the building of interest. Nico Van de Weghe (Department of Geography, UGent - https://soleway.ugent.be)

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