Wayfinding styles

Abstract

The goal of this study is to investigate the relationships between wayfinding styles and mobility patterns and navigational preferences. Urban wayfinding behavior is defined by the strategies that people use to decide how to move from one place to another within a city (Montello 1995). It relates to the preferences, selection and application of navigation strategies, the attitude towards travelling, and ability to reach the intended destination. The research question is to what extent do wayfinding styles differ for groups of travellers and their mobility patterns and navigation preferences? The hypotheses are that more active mobility patterns correlate to more wayfinding abilities, and that with more wayfinding abilities a stronger preference occurs for taking short cuts, while the preferences for time, distance and number of turns may depend on the travel mode and urban environment. First a theoretical framework has been developed for the identification of wayfinding styles based on literature and a factor analysis derived from 23 self-reported preferences towards wayfinding and navigation. Furthermore, the results illustrate fourteen variables (relating to socio-demographic, mobility patterns and navigational preferences) that exercise significant differences among the clusters of wayfinding styles, while the built and urban environment did not yield any significant differences. The contribution of relating wayfinding behavior to revealed mobility patterns and navigational preferences could provide new insights into the decision-making process of people while travelling and improve the content of travel information.