Presentation given by Andrew Cave at IASDR 2013 in Tokyo, Japan. Covered research examining passengers familiarity with airport environments and intuitive navigation within the airport using eye tracking glasses.

1. Intuitive Navigation within Airports
Andrew Cave - ar.cave@qut.edu.au
Thea Blackler - a.blackler@qut.edu.au
Vesna Popovic - v.popovic@qut.edu.au
Ben Kraal - b.kraal@qut.edu.au
PAS Lab, QUT, Brisbane, Australia - paslab.com.au

2. Passenger navigation
Why is this important?
Get to the correct boarding
gate on time
So you can catch the flight
...But it is not always easy

3. Getting to the plane
There are a number of activities to complete at
International terminals
Activities and locations can vary between airports
Arrive at
airport
Check-in Security Customs
Retail
Boarding
gate
Retail

4. Components of navigation
Why do some passengers navigate easily while
others have difficulty?
Look at intuitive navigation...
The Navigator
- Physical abilities
- Cognitive abilities
The Environment
- Physical elements
- Spaces
- Information

5. Intuitive Navigation
What is intuitive navigation?
Fast, semi-conscious / non-
conscious decisions that are
often correct
This is enabled by prior
experience
In the airport context, most
people do not fly frequently

6. Intuitive Navigation within Airports
Questions:
What familiarity do people have with airports?
and
How does this affect their ability to intuitively
navigate?

7. Methodology
Used eye tracking glasses at
Australian International Airport
30 participants
Navigate through to the boarding
gate
Video and talk aloud protocol
Questionnaire to determine Airport
Environment Familiarity (AEF)
score

9. Data Analysis
Video was imported into
Observer software for
analysis
Coding scheme
developed to examine
how people navigate
Intuitive
Partially Intuitive
Not Intuitive
Focussed
Unfocussed
Search
Assessment /
Acquire
Information
Intuitive
Partially Intuitive
Not Intuitive
Going / Doing

10. Visualisation of results
Very experienced participant
Inexperienced participant
4 min
7 min
Start To Security Point
Start To Security Point

11. Results
Examine 4 results examining AEF score with regard to:
% of overall time spent in Going / Doing
% of time spent intuitively navigating in Going / Doing
% of overall time spent in Search
% of time spent intuitively navigating in Assessment /
Acquire information

12. Overall time spent in Going / Doing
Significant positive correlation (r=.597, p<.01)
Search
Assessment
/ Acquire
Information
Going /
Doing

13. % of time spent Going/ Doing intuitive
Significant positive correlation (r=.534, p<.01)
Search
Assessment
/ Acquire
Information
Going /
Doing

14. Overall time spent in Search
Significant negative correlation (r=-.458, p=<.05)
Search
Assessment
/ Acquire
Information
Going /
Doing

15. % time spent in Assessment intuitive
Significant positive correlation (r=.775, p=<.01)
Search
Assessment
/ Acquire
Information
Going /
Doing

16. Findings summary
Difference found between
inexperienced and
experienced passengers
Opportunity to improve
navigation of inexperienced
passengers
- reduce search time
- increase intuitive navigation
Inexperienced participant
Very experienced participant

17. Conclusion
Next step is to examine the
elements in the environment
that people use to intuitively
navigate
This research has applied
outcomes as well as new
methodology

18. Intuitive Navigation within Airports
Thank you for your attention
Questions?
Email: ar.cave@qut.edu.au
Twitter: @AndrewCave
People and Systems (PAS) Lab
www.paslab.com.au