User Experience and Strategy Choices During Navigation: A Content Analysis of Navigators Using Different Types of Wayfinding Devices

In this study, we compared navigation through a large, complex, public building a) without any map, b) with a printed map, or c) with a digital map. Participants looked for five different destinations while thinking aloud, filled out questionnaires, and answered open questions about the wayfinding task and about the building and the maps. A content analysis was used in order to identify key factors in the building’s and maps’ design that facilitated or hindered successful and satisfactory usage. There was a significant search time difference between the no-map group and the two map groups. There were no differences in how efficiently the two map groups found destinations. The analysis of post-experiment questionnaires exhibited a similar pattern, there were no differences in the assessments of map usability. Participants using paper maps significantly reported most often to not have any difficulties with the wayfinding task. The groups did not appear to apply different wayfinding strategies, suggesting that participants’ strategy choices were shaped by individual preferences and the building itself with its signage as an additional informative layer.