January 2008 CAMPBELL and LYONS: Wayfinding in the Urban UTSG Southampton Environment
WAYFINDING IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT
Ms Mhairi Campbell Research Fellow University of the West of England
Professor Glenn Lyons Director Centre for Transport and Society University of the West of England
Abstract
Having difficulty finding a destination can be costly to individuals and organisations. Individuals have to endure feelings of frustration, confusion and even fear, while time is wasted and appointments are missed. This paper examines, based upon a series of in-depth interviews, how well a selection of technology-mediated wayfinding services are meeting travellers’ requirements. Firstly a sample of PDF documents providing directions (found using Google) is compared in terms of information format and content to the requirements of individuals in assisting their comprehension of directions. The use of and attitudes towards a further five forms of technology- mediated wayfinding assistance are considered. What happens when travellers experience a problem finding an unfamiliar destination is explored, discovering distinct behaviours towards finding destinations: ‘always find it’; ‘persevere’; and ‘occasionally abandon’. Following this, occasions when the traveller abandons the unfamiliar journey are examined, with the emergence of three categories of wayfinding problems: complex layouts; simultaneous travelling and wayfinding; and comprehension of directions. Only by understanding these issues, together with the needs and desires of people wayfinding in the urban environment, will it be possible to ensure that current and future information provided for wayfinding is both useful, i.e. the information is what is needed by the traveller, and usable, i.e. the traveller is easily able to make use of the information.
Introduction Having difficulty finding a destination can be costly to individuals and organisations. Individuals have to endure feelings of frustration, confusion and even fear (Lynch, 1990), while time is wasted and appointments are missed. Organisations can lose business or clients, as well as incurring the costs involved in staff time spent finding destinations themselves or directing others. The majority of research into wayfinding has used experimental techniques in relation to cognitive functions within the fields of psychology and geography. There remains a knowledge gap concerning the impact different forms of assistance can have on unfamiliar wayfinding and how the traveller copes with finding unfamiliar destinations.
A growing number of forms of technology-based wayfinding assistance exist and analysis of their development (see later) is evolving. However, there is a paucity of research into how useful and used such assistance is in relation to people’s needs and experience of wayfinding in practice. This paper aims to make a contribution to better understanding the place of technology-mediated assistance in meeting people’s needs and concerns when undertaking unfamiliar journeys. It begins by focusing upon a relatively widely available and accessible form of assistance – bespoke directions to a given destination made available as an electronic document. Examination of the nature of assistance provided in a sample of such documents is considered alongside the preferences for wayfinding assistance expressed by individuals participating in in-depth interviews. Drawing upon this interview data, the paper goes on to consider attitudes towards a variety of other forms of technology-mediated assistance. Wayfinding problems, which motivate the need for provision of assistance and take-up of assistance to resolve them, are then considered in terms of a number of issues: occasions when people abandon unfamiliar journeys; concerns over wasted time; and categories of wayfinding problems. The next section of the paper offers a brief examination of the literature to set a context for addressing the elements above. This paper is produced and circulated privately and its inclusion in the conference does not constitute publication. 2A1.1 CAMPBELL and LYONS: Wayfinding in the Urban January 2008 Environment Southampton UTSG
Background Human wayfinding research examines: “how people find their ways in the physical world, what they need to find it, how they communicate directional information, and how people’s verbal and visual abilities influence wayfinding.” (Raubal et al. 1997). Three types of wayfinding are defined by (Allen, 1999): ‘commute’, ‘explore’ and ‘quest’. ‘Commute’ involves following a familiar route from a known origin to known destination with low levels of uncertainty for the traveller. Generally there is little conscious effort required. The ‘explore’ form of wayfinding aims to discover new information about an unfamiliar environment. This involves a familiar start and destination, often the same place, with the aim of finding new places and new paths between these new places and places already known to the traveller. This wayfinding involves greater levels of uncertainty for the traveller, as to whether the information they gather from the exploration will be of any use. Unlike commute wayfinding which generally uses automatic memory and low levels of effort, explore wayfinding involves conscious cognitive processing. Finally ‘quest’ wayfinding involves uncertainty for the traveller. The traveller is proceeding to a specific destination which is unfamiliar to them and which they may not have previously visited. ‘Quest’ wayfinding requires high-level cognitive abilities, greater than those required for explore wayfinding (Allen, 1999). The focus upon unfamiliar travel within this current paper falls within quest wayfinding as defined by Allen (1999).
A substantial amount of research has been conducted on wayfinding, especially within the fields of psychology and human geography. Much is known about the cognitive functions of how people tend to find their way (see Kitchin, 1994; Løvås, 1998; Timpf, 2002; and Tversky, 2003), and how this is a hierarchical process (see Hartley et al. 2003 and Maguire et al. 2003). When people are deciding which route to take, as pedestrians and when driving, several factors are taken into consideration: the shortest path; the path with the least changes in direction; and taking the longest part of the path first judged by line of sight, (Golledge, 1993; Dalton, 2003). These factors are generally of greater importance than the amount of time taken to travel the route. People generally attempt to minimise the length of time to create strategies for wayfinding routes (Golledge, 1993). However, much of this work has involved experimental conditions, with less research focussing on real-life practicalities of wayfinding, especially within complex urban environments.
While people can often enjoy the fun and satisfaction of wayfinding (Passini, 1984), this would usually be in the context of leisure time. It is unlikely that many people would consider finding their way from a city centre to a hospital, or meeting with their bank manager, a leisure activity. Satisfaction will also depend upon the pressures associated with the wayfinding task such as timely arrival at a destination and how effectively, within such constraints, the individual is able to wayfind. A study by Devlin and Bernstein (1997) involving an on-screen wayfinding exercise found that lower reported frustration levels correlated with higher confidence. The level of frustration also correlated positively with the error score, suggesting a relationship between lower frustration and fewer errors. When people lose their way, they become angry, hostile and indignant (Abu- Ghazzeh, 1996). This is corroborated by the finding that when using public buildings, if visitors know where they are going, they experience less stress (Evans et al. 2002), and research which reported that wayfinding ease was found to positively enhance the experiences of museum visitors (Talbot et al. 1993). A further link between feelings of stress and problems wayfinding is given by (Malinowski and Gillespie, 2001) who found that the task of orienteering with a map and compass was predicted by anxiety, the greater the anxiety level, the lower the orienteering performance. They argue that if even 1% of the tourists visiting large cities get lost, that is potentially a huge number of confused anxious tourists (Malinowski and Gillespie, 2001).
With the ongoing emergence of methods and services to assist travellers find their intended destinations, research is emerging concerning technologically-mediated assistance for wayfinding, such as that by Kray et al (2003) who discuss the different ways information can be provided on PDAs and suggest guidelines for deciding which format is best for a given situation. This research found that among experienced map users, when using mobile wayfinding devices, an aerial view (the view usually shown by traditional 2D maps) was generally preferred over the eye-level view. This notion of technologically-mediated assistance replicating traditional means of assistance is also touched upon by Zipf and Hunolstein (2003) who found that since most tourists are content with paper maps and tourist guides, any mobile forms of assistance aimed at tourists are required
2A1.2 January 2008 CAMPBELL and LYONS: Wayfinding in the Urban UTSG Southampton Environment to match the range of information provide by the existing paper medium to entice tourists to use mobile guides.
The bounds of technological possibility (enabled by suitable data feeds) are certainly growing. Lee et al. (2001) proposed a handheld device which could incorporate a map with photo images of certain landmarks, accounting for direction of approach with the photo images taken from pedestrian eye level of each viable approach route. A pedestrian navigation system was suggested by Baus et al. (2001) that is capable of providing information to a variety of devices including static information booth, indoor system using PDA and infrared transmitters, outdoor system using laptop and (Global Positioning System) GPS devices. Of course such technological possibilities must be tempered by examination of their usability and learnability. Nielsen (1993) highlights that the usability of any system relates to a number of attributes including being: easy to learn; efficient to use; easy to remember; few errors; and subjectively pleasing.
Alongside usability of a service is whether it will be used. A telephone survey in Finland of travel information requirements found that while young people were more interested than older respondents in personal navigation systems, it was older respondents that were prepared to pay greater amounts of money to receive these services (Anttila, 2001). Hence for the provision of wayfinding assistance to be at least potentially effective, the traveller must be willing as well as able to use the service.
Methodology The purpose of the research discussed in this paper was to gain greater insight into wayfinding experiences and perceptions. Individual accounts were sought to increase understanding of the wayfinding assistance used in differing circumstances. One-to-one individual telephone interviews were undertaken to explore wayfinding in some detail, giving each interviewee the scope and opportunity to discuss their experiences. Interviewees were free to talk about their experiences of wayfinding in their own words, discuss the methods they use, express their feelings about unfamiliar wayfinding and their opinions about potential wayfinding assistance services.
Interviews were conducted with respondents to a previously employed wayfinding questionnaire (see Campbell and Lyons, n.d.), who indicated they were willing to take part in further discussions of wayfinding and who had provided contact details. Participants were selected to provide a variety of responses according to city of survey, gender and age. Further selection criteria included details from the returned questionnaires: purpose of journey, enjoyment of that wayfinding experience, and methods used for the reported wayfinding. 20 depth interviews were undertaken comprising the following sample: 8 individuals from Manchester questionnaire responses (4 female, 4 male, ages ranged from 32 to 70), and 12 individuals from Bristol survey questionnaires (8 female, 4 male, ages ranged from 23 to 59). Each interview lasted approximately thirty to forty minutes. The interview transcriptions were analysed using ATLAS.ti, a qualitative analysis software package using guidance from the grounded theory of qualitative analysis to allow insights into the subject, in this instance unfamiliar wayfinding, to emerge from the data (Strauss and Corbin, 1998).
A separate desk-study examination of the style and content of bespoke directions retrieved from the Internet was also undertaken to allow comparison with the preferences highlighted by interview participants. The Internet search engine ‘Google’ (http://www.google.co.uk) was used to source examples of information pages that provide specific and bespoke directions to a given destination (typically provided by the organisation associated with the destination). Portable document format (PDF) is a common means of now representing electronic material: PDF allows a document to be viewed and printed in the form intended by its creator, irrespective of the operating system or device used to view/print the document. Therefore, all users should view the same image. A total of 130 cases of directions information presented in PDF form were obtained and examined. The search terms used were: ‘directions.pdf’, first 100 hits selected; ‘findus.pdf’, all 29 relevant hits selected; ‘wearehere.pdf’, 1 hit. All cases in the sample had to fulfil the criteria of providing instructions to enable a traveller to find an organisation. All organisations selected were UK based.
Directions.pdf Now that internet access is widely possible, with 67% of the UK population accessing the internet in the 3 months prior to a National Statistics survey in August 2007, (ONS, 2007a), PDF directions This paper is produced and circulated privately and its inclusion in the conference does not constitute publication. 2A1.3 CAMPBELL and LYONS: Wayfinding in the Urban January 2008 Environment Southampton UTSG
are commonly provided by a broad range of organisations and businesses. Such directions importantly can, if widely used, govern the ease with which individuals can find the related destinations – with financial or economic consequences over time potentially for the organisations (and urban areas) concerned. This section considers how the presentation and content across ‘directions.pdf’ documents compares with the separate views of interviewees on wayfinding assistance information format and content.
Many participants expressed a clear preference for a particular format of information, either a printout of written directions or a map. 89% of PDF examples included a map, 84% included written directions, and 73% provided both a map and some form of written directions, thus appearing to meet expectations for either format. However, when closer attention was paid to what the interviewees say they require in either format, fewer expectations were met. For those who preferred written directions, especially those who frequently travelled by car, a short bullet point style list of directions was said to be easiest to use. This was because they often expected to consult the directions while driving and accordingly lack of brevity and suitable layout could be problematic. “You can’t process all that as you’re driving along, it’s absurd!” (female, 44, Bristol). In the set of PDF examples only 30% provided this method of directions; meanwhile 54% provided a free flowing, narrative style text. This would mean that when some participants used information in this style, they had to create a list of their own directions. “The written directions I print off and then as I say there’s a lot of unnecessary information there, then I’ll just pick out the main parts and write it down.” (female, 39, Manchester). Since 97% of written directions provided information for drivers, indicated by descriptions of road routes and long distances, it seems that many organisations might be able to improve wayfinding directions to their location by ensuring that written information aimed at car users included concise bullet point style text.
When considering the content of maps provided within the PDF examples, again the method of transport was important to determining the desired features according to interviewees. Those discussing driving with the aid of a map favoured the inclusion of road names or numbers - 98% of the PDF examples provided this on their maps. Meanwhile for walking, interviewees expressed a preference for landmarks to be included on the map. Landmarks were provided in 73% of cases of PDF examples including a map. Landmarks are an important aspect of wayfinding directions because of the confirmatory information they provide regarding an individual’s location (May et al, 2003). Confirmatory landmarks are also used within written directions to help the traveller check that they are at the correct point, e.g. ‘turn left at next lights onto Lichfield Road (Power League on right).’ The directions do not need the reference to ‘Power League’ to be complete, only to ensure that the traveller has followed the directions correctly. Confirmatory landmark information in the written text was provided by 24% of the PDF written directions examples concerned. Alongside the greater need for bullet-point style written information, it seems that many PDF attempts at wayfinding assistance may be falling short of the needs of some users.
Confirmatory information assumes a greater importance if a traveller becomes lost. Interviewees indicated that when they became lost they required greater amounts of detail from their assistive directions as they then needed to re-evaluate where they were and often preferred enough details to double check their location or route. “But also among that I would want to know certain landmarks or street names on the way just to make sure that I'm going the correct way as I'm going.” (female, 61, Manchester). Greater amounts of detail were also required by those who either were always nervous about an unfamiliar journey or on certain unfamiliar journeys which gave them particular concern, sometimes due to the importance of the event at the destination. “I initially booked the course with the organisers who sent me details of the venue with written instructions, including a map which was an A-Z but also details of the venue including their telephone and also location of the nearest tube station, on receipt of that I looked at the map and confirmed with a colleague who knows London well and then actually rang the venue myself and with the A-Z map in front of me asked them to describe
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the route on foot from the tube station to the venue, pointing out several landmarks, places that I would pass, and then I wrote them down.” (female, 33, Bristol). Therefore, the 26% of PDF printouts which provided information of landmarks in their written directions which was corroborated by the same landmarks being shown in the map they provided are offering a service which is highly valued by lost or anxious wayfinders.
The format and quality of PDF examples is variable – this suggests that, while many of the examples may be positively supporting individuals’ wayfinding, there is not a widely recognised and adopted form of best practice in directions.pdf design. This form of wayfinding assistance has the potential advantage that it can be designed with greater levels of specific information and attention to appropriate detail than would be possible for ‘global’ systems of wayfinding assistance. The providers, in principle, have an experience themselves of the advised routes and appropriate landmarks; they also have a direct incentive to ensure people can easily locate their property or premises. This raises the question of whether better guidance on information design could be made available and awareness of (the importance of) such guidance raised.
What is also highlighted above is that in preparing for unfamiliar journeys, individuals may wish to take further confirmatory steps of their own, building upon or triangulating between the wayfinding assistance information that they have. This may well raise questions for forms of wayfinding assistance which are used only when on the move (such as hand-held electronic devices) for which the opportunity for pre-trip confirmatory steps and triangulation may not present itself. Conversely, if en-route wayfinding assistance is sufficiently effective, the need for (pre-trip) confirmation/triangulation, possibly involving other sources of assistance, may be diminished or removed. The paper now goes on to examine the reactions of interviewees to other forms of technology-mediated wayfinding assistance.
Wayfinding preferences During the interviews, with the exception of obtaining information via the Internet and general use of mobile phones (i.e. in contacting other people for assistance), there was little unprompted discussion by the interviewees of technology-mediated wayfinding assistance – in spite of there being a growing availability of such services. The interview schedule had been designed, however, to subsequently prompt specific discussion on this matter thus allowing awareness of and attitudes towards such services to be explored. Five forms of wayfinding assistance were discussed: in-car navigation systems (e.g. TomTom car navigation); pedestrian navigation systems (e.g. Telmap Navigator); wayfinding information sent to a mobile phone (e.g. Mapway); on-street electronic information kiosks (e.g. I Plus); and call centre provision of directions information, (e.g. Voicemap). Each form of assistance was described to ensure interviewees understood and appreciated their intended nature and role.
As at 2006 there were reported to be four million satellite navigation systems in use on UK roads (DfT, 2006). However, most respondents had no direct experience of using an in-car navigation system. Those who expressed approval of such technology did so on the basis of having seen it being used successfully by someone else or because of an assumption that the instrument would simplify their journey and remove the effort they had to expend in wayfinding. Misgivings about navigation systems for cars included issues of using the apparatus, cost and general wayfinding assistance preferences. Concerns about using the apparatus were that the system might distract from the task of driving, “I don’t know whether it would help me because I might concentrate too much on that than my driving.” (female, 49, Bristol). and experience or anecdotal evidence of the system not working correctly. The cost of this type of technology (albeit something which is likely to continue falling) was a reason stated by some respondents for not using such a system. “Cost seems to have come down because they used to be very expensive and now they are reasonable.” (female, 40, Manchester). Many said they felt it was difficult to justify such a large cost when less expensive forms of wayfinding information were available. A preference for wayfinding information in a form that could be studied prior to and during the journey was another disadvantage raised. Overall, these
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misgivings about the usefulness of in-car navigation systems amount to an issue of trust. Most respondents have little trust that this method of helping them find their way would actually work smoothly. “It was reasonably reliable until we got to Swansea and the good old fashioned map came out as we found dead ends and u-turns…I found it quite frustrating, the trust that my colleague put in the navigation system because I would just have used a map.” (male, 27, Bristol). Only two respondents had heard of wayfinding technology in the form of pedestrian navigation systems - a hand held system using similar technology to car navigation systems. None had actual experience of using such a system. There was limited expression of possible usefulness with only one respondent discussing how they might consider using such a system in the future. More interviewees expressed misgivings about any potential usefulness. “Yes, I’ve heard of it, I haven’t used it. I don’t know, I probably prefer to use an A to Z instead really, it looks like it’s going to operate on pretty much the same grounds, so I’ll probably stick to something I’m used to”. (male, 34, Bristol). The ease of viewing details on the mobile phone screen was queried and there was a presumption that the system would be too expensive to be a viable option. What the quote above does highlight is that people do have a variety of options of wayfinding assistance to choose from, potentially such that not all options need to suit all people in order for overall wayfinding assistance provision to be adequate. This said, it also highlights a question surrounding the rate and level of take-up of specific technologically-mediated services in an environment where other services exist.
As at 2005-6, 79% of UK households had a mobile phone, (ONS, 2007b). Regular use of mobile phone technology is not specific to wayfinding assistance but was reported by many respondents to be used to access wayfinding assistance. This assistance was in terms of the ability to call either the destination or someone they knew, to obtain wayfinding directions. Most interviewees who owned a mobile phone said that they ensured they had their phone with them during unfamiliar wayfinding as a useful backup if they had a problem finding their way. However, only one person interviewed had attempted to use a specific service that sent wayfinding information to their mobile phone. This person liked the idea of such a system but had not used the technology again since their one experience of using such assistance failed due to the system taking overly long to operate. Of those who had not used the system but thought it potentially useful, many were people who said they disliked asking strangers in the street for wayfinding assistance. “That’s a technology I’m unfamiliar with, it would replace my reluctance to ask people when I’m on route and I’m half way there and I’m not sure how to finish off the journey, so that would overcome my reluctance to stop and ask someone” (female, 39, Manchester). Concerns regarding the costs of receiving directional information on their mobile phone were mentioned by some (while accessing information via the Internet can be perceived as ‘free’). Others were unsure how helpful this technology would be, questioning whether the information on the mobile phone display would be clear and easy to read.
Although on-street information computer kiosks had been seen by many of the interviewees, none said that they had used one. The services offered by information kiosks include a facility to locate local destinations and print maps. Of those who were in favour of such a system, their comments suggested they would use the system if they knew in advance about the services it offered, rather than being comfortable exploring what such a system might provide at the time when they were lost. Misgivings included the presumption that there would be a monetary charge for using the system (often not the case in practice).
When asked about obtaining directions from a call centre, respondents were not aware that this type of service existed. This service uses the caller’s mobile phone GPS to determine their location, the call centre then obtains directions to the requested destination and passes this on to the caller. Some interviewees spoke of getting basic wayfinding information from telephone enquiries services primarily aimed at giving details on public transport. Opinion on the potential usefulness of a call centre with the sole purpose of providing wayfinding directions varied from being viewed as providing an alternative for those who disliked stopping and asking strangers on
2A1.6 January 2008 CAMPBELL and LYONS: Wayfinding in the Urban UTSG Southampton Environment the street for directions, to being of little use to others who stated they would simply ask someone on the street. Overall, those in favour talked of this service offering security, it was viewed as a potential backup to their current wayfinding methods, useful in an emergency, and a comfort if the traveller knew they were able to use this if they ever needed to. “that would be useful but personally I would only use it as an emergency rather than as a regular”. (male, 38, Bristol). Among the interview sample, there was little direct experience of using technology-mediated wayfinding assistance, especially in relation to some forms of such assistance. Accordingly the findings particularly reflect perceptions from prospective future users. Issues of trust arise repeatedly in discussing respondings’ misgivings concerning some types of assistance. This issue of trust also serves to underline people’s preference for certain forms of ‘traditional’ wayfinding assistance. Trust relates in part to familiarity and experience – the challenge however, is how to foster experimentation with new means of wayfinding assistance such that experience can be gained, familiarity increased and trust developed. Lack of awareness or appreciation of services is an issue; this arose for example in relation to on street kiosks. “I haven't noticed one but if I was lost and there was one there, I'd use it definitely” (male, 48, Manchester) Without knowledge of the existence of a service, what it can offer, how to access the service, or how to operate the service, the system could not be a significant replacement for more traditional methods of providing wayfinding assistance, merely a useful device for the few travellers armed with the information and ability to gain access.
In an experiment by Ishikawa et al (2007), while users of a GPS based pedestrian navigational system did reach their intended destination, they were slower, travelled longer distances, and stopped more frequently than those using a paper map or those who had been taken along the route once previously. Ishikawa et al (2007), suggest that being unfamiliar with the GPS technology and small size of screen compared to traditional style map might explain this result. This underlines two points in relation to the findings above. Firstly, learnability of a service can be added to issues of familiarity and trust in relation to how readily it will be taken up and lead to further repeat-use. Secondly, it may not be the case that for all individuals in all circumstances, technology-mediated solutions to wayfinding assistance represent the most suitable or desirable approach.
Wayfinding problems To further understand how wayfinding assistance might be improved, it is useful to explore what happens when something goes wrong with the wayfinding process. Analysis of these interviews revealed several separate issues: occasions when people abandon unfamiliar journeys; concerns over wasted time; and categories of wayfinding problems.
There were reports within the interviews of people discontinuing unfamiliar wayfinding both prior to the journey being embarked upon and during the journey. At the planning stage, prior to starting out on the journey, lack of confidence in, or perceived difficulties of, the unfamiliar wayfinding prevented people from going to destinations, where this choice existed. During unfamiliar wayfinding, on journeys with the purpose of work or important personal business, the general opinion was that the journey had to be completed – the option to discontinue did not exist. However, many of those discussing problems experienced during these types of journeys expressed a variety of negative emotions and experiences, some indicating high levels of distress and effort to overcome the difficulties experienced.
Interviewees spoke of altering their plans and deciding, either before or when travelling, to change from the intended destination to one with which they were already familiar – again where the choice existed to do so. For some who talk about changing an unfamiliar destination for one that they are familiar with finding, it may be the task of unfamiliar wayfinding is simply too strenuous. If the unfamiliar wayfinding is for a social reason, especially in the evening, this task can be viewed as too much effort after a tiring day. “It depends how my day has gone as well, if I’ve had a really bad day I just want to know where I’m going and that’s that, rather than trying to find my way.” (female, 27, Bristol)
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When discussing the giving up on finding an unfamiliar destination, three groups of behaviour towards finding destinations became apparent: ‘always find it’; ‘persevere’; and ‘occasionally abandon’. Individuals were aligned with one or more of these behaviours The ‘always find it’ group reflected a confidence that they would successfully wayfind to the unfamiliar place even if this required extra consultation of wayfinding assistance on occasions where they had wayfinding difficulties. Confidence was clearly linked in many interviews with enjoyment of wayfinding. Meanwhile, those who said they had little confidence in their ability to find their way to unfamiliar destinations often reported disliking wayfinding. Therefore it can be suggested that this implies inspiring confidence in the traveller’s belief that they are competent in finding their way will have positive effects on their enjoyment of the journey, reduce any inclination to avoid independent unfamiliar wayfinding and therefore increase their experience in these tasks. This increased experience should improve their wayfinding skills, thus returning to the start of the process and further encourage confidence. The catalyst for inspiring confidence could be the provision of further improved wayfinding assistance which can reduce the cognitive and in turn affective effort (emotional energy) associated with wayfinding.
The second grouping, ‘persevere’ wayfinders, also reported they would find the unfamiliar destination. However, in this case persistence with the wayfinding task was called for, with an unwillingness to give up on the task even though sometimes this took a lot more cognitive effort than they would like and might be stressful. These wayfinders expressed a determination not to be beaten by the unfamiliar wayfinding task. There was a third small group of respondents who reported that they would occasionally give up trying to find the unfamiliar destination. “If I couldn’t find somewhere in the city centre and it was annoying me, I’d just abandon it and choose something else that looked attractive instead, even though the place may have been recommended or I may have seen it advertised in a magazine and think: oh, lets try that.” (female, 44, Bristol). Distinct from a general dislike of wayfinding in unfamiliar environments, many of the negative expressions about unfamiliar wayfinding were associated with issues of time. This seemed to be one of the main concerns when people undertook unfamiliar wayfinding. “There was more pressure going to __ for the placement because obviously I was going to be working with somebody else and I had to be there, because it was a school, I had to be there at a set time. Em, so that was more a pressure in terms of time.” (male, 32, Manchester). There was often mention of leaving large amounts of extra time to complete the journey. People often preferred to arrive at the unfamiliar destination up to an hour or more before they needed to be there. This let them feel more secure about the possibility that if something were to go wrong during their wayfinding, they would have enough time to remedy any problems finding the destination. They were allocating extra time for getting lost.
A few interviewees talked about how they dealt with unfamiliar wayfinding by taking the extreme measure of splitting the tasks of the journey into sections by undertaking the unfamiliar wayfinding prior to the day on which the reason for the journey occurs. Therefore on the day when the journey is required, the wayfinding is no longer entirely new and they felt better able to concentrate on the purpose of their journey. “and then I drove it, I did a dry run because it was an interview and I did not want to be late or in a fluster – I hate finding places I don’t know… so I thought: right well I’ll do that journey so I know what I’m doing when I actually have to.” (female, 39, Bristol). This suggests that unfamiliar wayfinding can cost some travellers time, over and above any time that is lost through congestion or delays to their chosen mode of transport. Provision of wayfinding assistance that increases these travellers’ confidence in unfamiliar wayfinding would contribute towards less wasted time spent on these tasks.
Of the problems interviewees discussed experiencing during their unfamiliar journeys, three categories of problem emerged: complex layouts; simultaneous travelling and wayfinding; and comprehension of directions. Complex street layout or complications at junctions caused some individuals to miss a turning or take the incorrect turn. This resulted in extra time being spent and extra distance travelled as the respondents attempted to correct the mistake and find their way
2A1.8 January 2008 CAMPBELL and LYONS: Wayfinding in the Urban UTSG Southampton Environment back onto their original route or find another route to their destination. Issues arising from simultaneous travelling and wayfinding during driving or while on public transport were again reported as resulting in important points of the route being missed. Thirdly, difficulty comprehending the wayfinding directions was cited by some respondents as causing them to become lost. Problems were reported with maps, written and verbal directions. These problems of comprehension included the directions failing to mention or depict a junction or street, hence the traveller was unsure which way to go at that point on the route. The other main comprehension difficulty was the wayfinder not being able to understand what the directions or map were intending to convey: “I'm not very good when it comes to map reading. If I go out with my family in the car, you know, they say, are we getting near, and I'll say I haven't a clue.” (female, 61, Manchester).
It would seem that greater attention to these three issues is called for in the ongoing development of (technology-mediated) forms of wayfinding assistance. Awareness that directions taking a traveller through complex junctions or environments requires precise instructions, perhaps with backup confirmatory information to allow the traveller to ascertain quickly whether they have taken the correct turning. One possible solution to the second problem of simultaneous wayfinding and travelling is to clarify whether the instructions are simple enough to be used while travelling. Alternatively, people should be encouraged to consult instructions prior to travelling, possibly with additional simple instructions designed to be used during travel. The third issue of wayfinding instructions not being understood reinforces the need for care and attention in how information is conveyed and a recognition that different people have different competencies concerning different forms of information presentation. If practical, a wayfinding services might seek to offer differing versions of maps or text, versions with greater detail or simple instructions, according to the traveller’s preferences.
Conclusion Technology-mediated wayfinding assistance now exists to potentially help travellers find unfamiliar destinations. Analysis of a sample of directions available as PDF documents via the Internet has highlighted that attention to the form and content could improve the usability of such assistance. In this study of unfamiliar wayfinding experiences, while general use of the Internet and mobile phones was revealed to be assisting urban travellers, a number of forms of technology-mediated wayfinding assistance were found not to be highly utilised and were not always perceived as offering significant advances over traditional map and written text-based forms of assistance. This suggests that at present, while services exist, or are beginning to emerge, awareness of and confidence in these services has not yet reached a point at which people substantially turn to these services when they experience a wayfinding problem. As Rogers (2003) explains through his theory of diffusion of innovations, this is not surprising - the new technologies will be used by enthusiastic “early adopters” long before the majority of people gain awareness and trust in such systems (if indeed they eventually do).
What this paper reveals, however, is that people are still facing problems with wayfinding including increased affective effort and time devoted to journeys and, in some cases, are being put off reaching destinations altogether. This suggests that there is still room for improvement, probably quite substantially so, in the provision of wayfinding assistance both in terms of its usefulness and usability. In both these respects, technology-mediated possibilities for solutions may well be presenting themselves. We are moving into an era of user-generated content where the ‘power of the crowd’ through the many-to-many connections provided by the Internet is allowing the provision of more data and information. Electronic provision of information can make it widely accessible to people and offers the possibility of flexible multi-media presentation of information to accommodate the needs of wayfinders. However, in the ongoing development of technology-mediated services it remains important to bear in mind that such development must recognise the needs of its users. Some such services appear at present in the minds of prospective users to present some usefulness and usability issues. There is a need to recognise the features of ‘traditional’ forms of wayfinding assistance and seek to overcome limiting features therein while emulating positive features. There is also a need for further study into the contexts in which services are used – such contexts concern not only whether use is before and/or during the journey but also the way in which services can be used in combination to assist the traveller.
This paper is produced and circulated privately and its inclusion in the conference does not constitute publication. 2A1.9 CAMPBELL and LYONS: Wayfinding in the Urban January 2008 Environment Southampton UTSG
One of the frustrations in this field is that people are known to be able to employ different methods of wayfinding, depending on the type of information available and the circumstances of to the situation, such as time and location, (Golledge, 1999; Cornell and Heth, 2000). Chao (2006) found in an experimental situation that while definite preferences existed for route instructions or map information, preferences could change depending on factors such as how confident the participant felt about the particular task, the situation of the wayfinding task and the layout of the environment. This corroborates speculation by Lawton (1996) that people move between wayfinding strategies depending on the situation.
It is important to recognise that adverse experiences of wayfinding can have effects reaching beyond only the individual concerned as indicated below:
1. Adverse feelings and emotions experienced by the wayfinder 2. Opportunity loss to the individual and/or to the party associated with the intended destination 3. Consequent adverse attitudes formed by the individual concerning the (intended) destination and possible negative associations more widely with the area concerned 4. Secondary or third party consequences as individuals are discouraged from future journeys and in turn activities (financially and socially related) or are discouraged from using certain modes of transport in favour of others
Difficulty finding a destination in the urban environment is a subtle issue, on many occasions the task is secondary to the focus the traveller has on the activities that will occur when they reach the destination. Often it is only when things go wrong that attention is given to how a destination is found and what exists to facilitate this. Having difficulty finding a destination may not immediately be perceived to be of great importance. However, these problems can be costly to individuals, organisations and the urban area as illustrated above.
Travellers experiencing problems wayfinding, the possible repercussions of this, and the slow acceptance of technology based wayfinding assistance has implications for the Government aims to improve transport provision. By tackling these issues and improving wayfinding assistance that is useful, useable and used by the traveller during unfamiliar journeys, contributions towards reducing congestion, improving access, respecting the environment and supporting the economy can be achieved. The findings in this paper suggest that improvements to existing wayfinding assistance, optimising the awareness travellers have of this assistance, ensuring that the assistance is available in suitable formats for travellers with differing abilities and preferences in their use of wayfinding material, may build confidence in travellers’ wayfinding techniques and improve their ability to independently find their way to unfamiliar destinations. This in turn may contribute to fewer lost miles driven searching for unfamiliar destinations, greater use of public transport and walking for unfamiliar journeys, and reduction in lost visits to businesses which travellers have difficulty locating.
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