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To be able to design indoor wayfinding systems that adhere better to the needs of the users, user perception on complexity needs to be examined and linked to user characteristics and decision point characteristics. To identify how these characteristics influence perception, an online survey is executed in which participants had to indicate how complex they found a decision point, while interpreting a route instruction. The results show that complexity ratings depend both on user characteristics and on the function of the decision point. Decision points to change levels, start or end a route and to take turns each received significantly different complexity ratings. Isovist and visibility graph analysis characteristics of these decision points show that the first two actions were perceived as more complex when they took place in a narrow hallway, while the third action was perceived as more complex in a convex space. The results of this study can be used in the design of an adaptive wayfinding system that adapts the route instructions to the perceived decision point complexity. This adaptation will adhere better to the needs of the users compared to an adaptation based on solely theoretical complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development of a crowdsourced indoor navigation system named SoleWay. Because the input of volunteers is crucial, special attention was paid to the usability of the system at different stages throughout its development. Besides a user-friendly system, this has resulted in a number of important insights that can facilitate the development of future systems: the importance social motivation of potential users, integration of a stepwise approach (with a gradual release and subsequent user evaluations), and adaptation to user requirements. These elements combined are also crucial to be able to obtain a critical crowd that can sustain a viable content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 (Sole- Way) 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]