The diploma thesis Principles of information visualization in public transit information systems considers the ways information design affects one of the most common activities of people in an urban environment: the use of public transit system. In this work, the city space becomes a framework for several disciplines connected to the concept of wayfinding. The author sets the topic in a wide historical and architectural context and links the connections with cognitive science. The case study describes principals for information design using the example of the Prague subway and their application to an experimental station with a new information system installed.

I juni år 2017 invigdes Citybanan och pendeltågsstationen Stockholm City. I samband med och efter stationens öppnande har flertalet synpunkter från resenärer samlats in gällande stationens utformning och trafikinformation efter att brister i stationens miljö upptäcktes. Konsultföretaget Sweco har därför på uppdrag av Trafikverket utrett bristerna på Stockholm City för att sedan komma med förbättringsförslag. Utredningen visade på en osäkerhet hos resenärerna för hur de skulle agera vid ankomster med korta pendeltåg. Det visade sig att resenärerna inte visste vart de skulle placera sig på stationen, att de ofta fick springa för att hinna med och ibland till och med missade ett kort pendeltåg på grund av bristfällig vägledning. Uppsatsen syftar därför till att undersöka hur människor agerar i stationsmiljö, mer specifikt på pendeltågsstationen Stockholm City genom observationer. Observationerna av totalt 800 resenärer skapar en förståelse för hur den fysiska miljön och trafikinformationen påverkar människans agerande när de ska placera sig på plattformen i väntan på sitt korta pendeltåg. Uppsatsens genomförda fältstudier och observationsstudier analyseras med metoden observiarie för att fånga upp enskilda resenärers ageranden och beteenden. De observerade resenärerna klustras sedan till fem olika resenärsidentiteter: den bestämda målsökaren, den självsäkra, gruppresenären, sökaren och den svårpåverkade för att förklara resenärernas agerande på en pendeltågsstation och varför somliga tycks missa sin avgång. / In June 2017, Citybanan and the commuter train station Stockholm City opened. In connection with the opening and after the opening, The Swedish Transport Administration gathered commuters' feedback regarding the station's overall design, environment and traffic information. The consulting company Sweco was also hired on behalf of the Swedish Transport Administration to identify the shortcomings of the station and to propose potential suggestions for further improvement. According to Sweco's investigation, there was uncertainty among travelers regarding how they should act upon arrivals with short commuter trains. The passengers did not know where to locate at the station, they often had to run to catch the train and sometimes some travelers even missed the short commuter train due to inadequate guidance and traffic information. This essay, therefore, aims to explore how individuals act in station environments, more specifically at Stockholm City commuter train station through observations. The observations of a total of 800 passengers help to create an understanding of how the physical environment and traffic information affect human actions when they have to navigate on the platform while waiting for a short commuter train. The essays completed field studies and observations are analyzed using observiarie as a method to capture the actions and behaviors of individual travelers. The passengers are then also clustered into five different passenger identities: the determined target seeker, the confident, the group traveler, the seeker, and finally the difficult to influence, to further explain passengers' actions at a commuter train station and explain why some travelers seem to miss their departure when short commuter trains arrives.

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Based on a targeted literature review, this vision paper emphasizes the importance of dementia-sensitive built space. The article specifically focuses on supporting spatial orientation and wayfinding for people living with dementia. First, we discuss types of wayfinding challenges, underlying processes, and consequences of spatial disorientation in the context of dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. Second, we focus on current efforts aimed at planning and evaluating dementia-sensitive built space, i.e., environmental design principles, interventions, evaluation tools, strategies, and planning processes. Third, we use our findings as a starting point for developing an interdisciplinary research vision aimed at encouraging further debates and research about: (1) the perspective of a person with dementia, specifically in the context of wayfinding and spatial orientation, and (2) how this perspective supplements planning and design processes of dementia-sensitive built space. We conclude that more closely considering the perspective of people with dementia supports the development of demographically sustainable future cities and care institutions.

No description available.

The present study aims to predict which individual factors may influence strategy-choices in wayfinding situations, specifically when participants are faced with ambiguous instructions in unfamiliar environments. Individual differences were measured with self-report forms of the Big Five personality traits and the Santa Barbara sense of direction scale (SBSOD). The study was conducted in a web-based survey format with a n=104 (65 female, and 39 male). A regression analysis concluded that the trait conscientiousness was the only factor that had predictive value in determining choice of strategy. SBSOD had some predictive values towards strategy-choice, but needs further investigation before any general conclusion can be drawn. Future studies should focus on a more goal-oriented task with more realistic stimulus. / Föreliggande studie har undersökt vilka individuella faktorer som kan påverka val av strategi i olika navigations-scenarion, specifikt när deltagare möts av oklara instruktioner i obekanta miljöer. Individuella skillnader mättes med själv-utvärdering av Big Five personlighetsdrag och Santa Barbara sense of direction scale (SBSOD). Studien utfördes i ett web-baserat enkätformat med ett deltagarantal på totalt 104 (65 kvinnor och 39 män). En regressionsanalys fastslog att personlighetsdraget samvetsgrannhet var den enda faktorn som kunde predicera strategival. SBSOD hade viss produktionskraft mot strategival, med detta behöver utforskas mer innan några generella slutsatser kan dras. Framtida studier bör fokusera på en mer målinriktad uppgift med mer naturtrogna stimuli.

Ce mémoire de maîtrise est une recherche exploratoire sur les expériences de localisation vécues dans l’espace urbain montréalais par des sujets en relation à l’information dite « de localisation ». La localisation est un processus d’orientation spatiale où l’emplacement d’un lieu dans l’espace est un problème à résoudre. Cette exploration est basée sur la théorisation de l’information proposée par Bateson (1972) et le développement du concept de dispositif par Belin (2002) et Agamben (2007) à la suite de Foucault, la localisation étant le concept empirique exploratoire. Le processus de localisation est investigué quant à son caractère médiatique : l’information de localisation est le medium qui, en étant un résultat et une cause de l’action, donne forme à ce processus mené par l’effort. Un travail de terrain ethnométhodologique déployé par le biais d’observations empiriques et d’entrevues qualitatives permet d’identifier certaines conditions qui rendent possibles, dans la vie quotidienne, les relations entre l’information de localisation, l’espace urbain et un sujet. Étant majoritairement vécue lors de déplacements présents, futurs ou passés, la localisation est ainsi conceptualisée en tant que wayfinding : l’action de déterminer quelles voies ou trajets emprunter pour se rendre d’un point A à un point B. Ce mémoire est en réalité une problématisation ouverte qui vise à explorer et identifier certains enjeux qui sont au cœur des processus de localisation dans l’espace urbain montréalais. Si « [l]e fait humain par excellence », comme le souligne Leroi-Gouhran (1965) « est peut-être moins la création de l’outil que la domestication du temps et de l’espace » (p. 139), le fait d’habiter en un certain temps et en un certain espace est en soi une relation problématique de confiance. Le vivant et le non-vivant habitent des espaces aménagés qui sont continuellement transformés par leur détermination mutuelle. En partant du constat que l’environnement construit se déploie en étant produit et aménagé dans des dispositions où certains de nos gestes sont délégués, peut-on envisager être libre sans (se) faire confiance ? / This master’s thesis is an exploratory research on localization experiences lived in Montreal’s urban space by subjects in relation to ‘location’ information. Localization is a spatial orientation process where a place’s location in space is a problem to be solved. This exploration is based on a theorization of information proposed by Bateson (1972) as well as on a development of the concept of apparatus (dispositif) by Belin (2002) and Agamben (2007) following Foucault’s; localization being an exploratory empirical concept. The localization process is investigated regarding its media character: location information is a medium that, being a result and a cause of action, shapes this process that is driven by effort. An ethnomethodological fieldwork is enacted by empirical observations and qualitative interviews that permit to identify certain conditions that make possible, in everyday life, relations between location information, urban space and a subject. Being mostly lived regarding actual, future or past movements, localization is thus conceptualized as wayfinding: the act of determining which path or trajectory to follow to get from point A to point B. This master’s thesis is actually an open problematization that aims to explore and identify some issues that are at the heart of localization processes in Montreal’s urban space. If “[t]he human act par excellence”, as put forward by André Leroi-Gouhran (1993 [1965]) “is perhaps not so much the creation of tools as the domestication of time and space” (p. 313), the fact that we dwell in a certain time and in a certain space is a problematic relation of trust (confiance) in itself. The living and the non-living inhabit spaces that are continuously transformed by their mutual determination. Starting from the observation that the built environment is deploying itself while being produced and developed (aménagé) in dispositions where some of our gestures are delegated, is it possible to consider being free without trusting?

Ce mémoire de maîtrise est une recherche exploratoire sur les expériences de localisation vécues dans l’espace urbain montréalais par des sujets en relation à l’information dite « de localisation ». La localisation est un processus d’orientation spatiale où l’emplacement d’un lieu dans l’espace est un problème à résoudre. Cette exploration est basée sur la théorisation de l’information proposée par Bateson (1972) et le développement du concept de dispositif par Belin (2002) et Agamben (2007) à la suite de Foucault, la localisation étant le concept empirique exploratoire. Le processus de localisation est investigué quant à son caractère médiatique : l’information de localisation est le medium qui, en étant un résultat et une cause de l’action, donne forme à ce processus mené par l’effort. Un travail de terrain ethnométhodologique déployé par le biais d’observations empiriques et d’entrevues qualitatives permet d’identifier certaines conditions qui rendent possibles, dans la vie quotidienne, les relations entre l’information de localisation, l’espace urbain et un sujet. Étant majoritairement vécue lors de déplacements présents, futurs ou passés, la localisation est ainsi conceptualisée en tant que wayfinding : l’action de déterminer quelles voies ou trajets emprunter pour se rendre d’un point A à un point B. Ce mémoire est en réalité une problématisation ouverte qui vise à explorer et identifier certains enjeux qui sont au cœur des processus de localisation dans l’espace urbain montréalais. Si « [l]e fait humain par excellence », comme le souligne Leroi-Gouhran (1965) « est peut-être moins la création de l’outil que la domestication du temps et de l’espace » (p. 139), le fait d’habiter en un certain temps et en un certain espace est en soi une relation problématique de confiance. Le vivant et le non-vivant habitent des espaces aménagés qui sont continuellement transformés par leur détermination mutuelle. En partant du constat que l’environnement construit se déploie en étant produit et aménagé dans des dispositions où certains de nos gestes sont délégués, peut-on envisager être libre sans (se) faire confiance ? / This master’s thesis is an exploratory research on localization experiences lived in Montreal’s urban space by subjects in relation to ‘location’ information. Localization is a spatial orientation process where a place’s location in space is a problem to be solved. This exploration is based on a theorization of information proposed by Bateson (1972) as well as on a development of the concept of apparatus (dispositif) by Belin (2002) and Agamben (2007) following Foucault’s; localization being an exploratory empirical concept. The localization process is investigated regarding its media character: location information is a medium that, being a result and a cause of action, shapes this process that is driven by effort. An ethnomethodological fieldwork is enacted by empirical observations and qualitative interviews that permit to identify certain conditions that make possible, in everyday life, relations between location information, urban space and a subject. Being mostly lived regarding actual, future or past movements, localization is thus conceptualized as wayfinding: the act of determining which path or trajectory to follow to get from point A to point B. This master’s thesis is actually an open problematization that aims to explore and identify some issues that are at the heart of localization processes in Montreal’s urban space. If “[t]he human act par excellence”, as put forward by André Leroi-Gouhran (1993 [1965]) “is perhaps not so much the creation of tools as the domestication of time and space” (p. 313), the fact that we dwell in a certain time and in a certain space is a problematic relation of trust (confiance) in itself. The living and the non-living inhabit spaces that are continuously transformed by their mutual determination. Starting from the observation that the built environment is deploying itself while being produced and developed (aménagé) in dispositions where some of our gestures are delegated, is it possible to consider being free without trusting?

Essa pesquisa investiga a influência das variáveis físico-espaciais associadas à orientação nos espaços urbanos, a partir da percepção de grupos que diferem quanto ao gênero e grau de familiaridade com o espaço. O objetivo central é fornecer subsídios teóricos que possam auxiliar nas diretrizes de desenho urbano, de modo a garantir a maior facilidade na orientação espacial nos espaços urbanos, além de contribuir para um ambiente urbano de maior qualidade. Adotase a cidade de Santa Maria (RS) como objeto de estudo por constituir, principalmente, uma área onde a concentração de indivíduos com diferentes níveis de familiaridade com o espaço é significativa. Da mesma forma, por possuir espaços heterogêneos em termos das variáveis associadas aos aspectos físico-espaciais que tornam pertinente a comparação entre eles. Os métodos de coleta e análise de dados fazem parte dos utilizados na área de pesquisa Ambiente e Comportamento. Os dados foram obtidos a partir de duas etapas: (1) levantamento de arquivo, entrevistas e mapas mentais, e (2) levantamento físico, questionário e mapas mentais, sendo esta etapa precedida de uma tarefa envolvendo orientação espacial isto é, a realização de um percurso no Centro da cidade. Os resultados dessa investigação demonstram que existem relações evidentes entre os níveis de facilidade de orientação e as variáveis físico-espaciais associadas às características urbanas dos espaços. Primeiramente, fica evidente que a presença de marcos referenciais contribui positivamente para facilitar a orientação espacial. Para determinados espaços, a presença de sinalização, também tende a explicar os níveis de facilidade de orientação. Ademais, os resultados revelam que as medidas sintáticas, tais como, níveis de integração, Relativa Assimetria Real e inteligibilidade são consideradas importantes para as análises sobre navegação no espaço urbano. Espera-se que os dados encontrados despertem o interesse pelo desenvolvimento de outros estudos sobre a relação entre orientação espacial e características urbanas. / This research investigates the influence of the physic-spatial variables associated to orientation in urban spaces, from the perception of groups that differ in gender and degree of familiarity to the space. The central purpose is to provide theoretic knowledge that can suppose urban design guidelines, thus guaranteeing greater easiness at wayfinding in urban spaces, as well as contributing for a higher quality urban atmosphere. It is adopted as study object the city of Santa Maria (RS) for constituting, mainly, an area where the individuals' concentration with different levels of familiarity with the space is significant. Likewise, for containing heterogeneous spaces in terms of the variables associated to the physic-spatial aspects that render the comparison among them pertinent. The collecting methods and analyses of data are part of those used in the field of the research of the Environment and Behavior. The data were obtained through two stages: (1) field survey, interviews and mental maps, and (2) physical survey, questionnaire and mental maps, preceded by a task involving wayfinding, which means the accomplishment of a course Downtown. The results of this investigation show that there are quite evident relations between the easiness of orientation levels and the physic-spatial variables associated to the urban features of the spaces. Initially, it is evident that the presence of marks contributes positively to facilitate the spatial orientation. For certain spaces, the presence of signage also tends to explain the levels of orientation easiness. Moreover, the results reveal that the syntactic measures, such as integration levels, Relative Asymmetry, Real Relative Asymmetry and intelligibility, are considered important for the analyses of navigation in the urban space. It is expected that the found data rouse the interest on the development of other studies about the relationship between spatial orientation and urban characteristics.

Essa pesquisa investiga a influência das variáveis físico-espaciais associadas à orientação nos espaços urbanos, a partir da percepção de grupos que diferem quanto ao gênero e grau de familiaridade com o espaço. O objetivo central é fornecer subsídios teóricos que possam auxiliar nas diretrizes de desenho urbano, de modo a garantir a maior facilidade na orientação espacial nos espaços urbanos, além de contribuir para um ambiente urbano de maior qualidade. Adotase a cidade de Santa Maria (RS) como objeto de estudo por constituir, principalmente, uma área onde a concentração de indivíduos com diferentes níveis de familiaridade com o espaço é significativa. Da mesma forma, por possuir espaços heterogêneos em termos das variáveis associadas aos aspectos físico-espaciais que tornam pertinente a comparação entre eles. Os métodos de coleta e análise de dados fazem parte dos utilizados na área de pesquisa Ambiente e Comportamento. Os dados foram obtidos a partir de duas etapas: (1) levantamento de arquivo, entrevistas e mapas mentais, e (2) levantamento físico, questionário e mapas mentais, sendo esta etapa precedida de uma tarefa envolvendo orientação espacial isto é, a realização de um percurso no Centro da cidade. Os resultados dessa investigação demonstram que existem relações evidentes entre os níveis de facilidade de orientação e as variáveis físico-espaciais associadas às características urbanas dos espaços. Primeiramente, fica evidente que a presença de marcos referenciais contribui positivamente para facilitar a orientação espacial. Para determinados espaços, a presença de sinalização, também tende a explicar os níveis de facilidade de orientação. Ademais, os resultados revelam que as medidas sintáticas, tais como, níveis de integração, Relativa Assimetria Real e inteligibilidade são consideradas importantes para as análises sobre navegação no espaço urbano. Espera-se que os dados encontrados despertem o interesse pelo desenvolvimento de outros estudos sobre a relação entre orientação espacial e características urbanas. / This research investigates the influence of the physic-spatial variables associated to orientation in urban spaces, from the perception of groups that differ in gender and degree of familiarity to the space. The central purpose is to provide theoretic knowledge that can suppose urban design guidelines, thus guaranteeing greater easiness at wayfinding in urban spaces, as well as contributing for a higher quality urban atmosphere. It is adopted as study object the city of Santa Maria (RS) for constituting, mainly, an area where the individuals' concentration with different levels of familiarity with the space is significant. Likewise, for containing heterogeneous spaces in terms of the variables associated to the physic-spatial aspects that render the comparison among them pertinent. The collecting methods and analyses of data are part of those used in the field of the research of the Environment and Behavior. The data were obtained through two stages: (1) field survey, interviews and mental maps, and (2) physical survey, questionnaire and mental maps, preceded by a task involving wayfinding, which means the accomplishment of a course Downtown. The results of this investigation show that there are quite evident relations between the easiness of orientation levels and the physic-spatial variables associated to the urban features of the spaces. Initially, it is evident that the presence of marks contributes positively to facilitate the spatial orientation. For certain spaces, the presence of signage also tends to explain the levels of orientation easiness. Moreover, the results reveal that the syntactic measures, such as integration levels, Relative Asymmetry, Real Relative Asymmetry and intelligibility, are considered important for the analyses of navigation in the urban space. It is expected that the found data rouse the interest on the development of other studies about the relationship between spatial orientation and urban characteristics.