Effectiveness of different signages in wayfinding across varying crowd

• Main Author: Koh, Le Shan
• Other Authors: Xu Hong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/148614
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Navigating through large train stations can be challenging for many commuters in Singapore. For example, it may be easy to lose their way due to insufficient and/or confusing signs. Currently, the most common types of signs used are overhead and wall signs. A way to improve wayfinding in train stations is to consider the use of other variants of signs, specifically floor signs. The current study thus aims to compare the effectiveness of the use of conventional overhead and wall signs to the use of color-coded floor signs in helping commuters find their way to the exit in a virtual train station simulation created using Unity game engine. As the presence and movement of other commuters may affect the visibility of the signs, the study is interested in looking further into whether effectiveness of the different signs would be influenced by the presence of crowds using a two-way repeated measures design. Finally, participants’ evaluation on various aspects of the different signs used in the study were assessed. Results from 77 participants suggested that floor signs were more effective than overhead and wall signs in helping them navigate through the wayfinding task, and that they generally evaluated the floor signs more positively.