Visualizing Off-screen Targets: Effects of Response Time and Visual Cue Design on Users’ Wayfinding Performance Using a Dynamic Peephole Interface

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is an increasing use of mobile devices to view maps for wayfinding purposes. However, viewing maps on a small screen often creates difficulties for users. Two possible solutions to this problem are dynamic peephole interfaces and visual cues to off-screen targets. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of visual cue design and response time on users’ wayfinding performance with a dynamic peephole interface on a mobile device. Both 1 s and 3 s response times were examined. Three different visual cue designs, i.e., the dot, short-line, and border-line, were adopted. The experiment was a 2 × 3 between-subjects design. Sixty participants were invited to complete four wayfinding tasks and subjective preference questionnaires. The NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaire was also adopted. The results revealed that: (i) Visual cues with different response times can affect users’ wayfinding performance; (ii) When planning a route, the border-line visual cues exhibited better outcomes with the 1-s response time; (iii) When users distinguished the order of the targets, the 3-s response time had better user performance than 1 s; and (iv) Participants perceived lower physical demand with the border-line visual cue design.