Procedure

Each participant was tested individually. The experiment included 3 phases:

wayfinding testing in real-world environment, wayfinding testing on Google Street View interface, and an online test battery of geospatial and psychological tests. See Figure 18 for a schematic flowchart of the experimental procedure of each cue type condition.

For participants in the map-cue condition, in the first phase they were instructed to study the map of wayfinding route for 4 min and were encouraged to take text notes or draw diagrams to help them remember the wayfinding route. Upon finishing studying, the map was retrieved and participants were lead to the starting point and asked to wear a Garmin Oregon 550t GPS receiver to track their navigation route. Participants were told that they would be followed by the experimenter at a distance of about 3 steps. They would be noticed if they had entered the wrong route. Participants could ask to see the map once they got lost in the campus. During the navigation of the participants, the

experimenter recorded the wayfinding performance. Experimenter would note error routes, asking for help, stopping steps, and hesitation. After wayfinding test, participants were interview for the strategies they used during the map study period.

In the second phase, the procedure was quite similar except participants did the wayfinding testing on Google Street View. First a 1 min video clip was introduced to demonstrate how to navigate on the Google Street View interface and participants had 1

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min to gain acquaintance with the interface. Then a wayfinding route map was given and participants had 4 min to study. After studying, the map was retrieved and participants began the wayfinding test. The experimenter was seated aside and recorded the wayfinding performance of the participants (see Appendix D for full instructions). On finishing the wayfinding testing on Google Street View interface, participants were interviewed by the experimenter for their wayfinding behavior and their strategies when studying the map cue.

In the third phase, participants were instructed to complete an online test battery comprising an online wayfinding strategy questionnaire, 3 psychological tasks, 2 geospatial ability scales, and 1 demographic survey. Google form was adopted to organize the questionnaires and tasks into an online test battery, through which participants were self-paced to accomplish the third phase (Figure 19). Before each of the 3 psychological task, a short video clip of about 1 min was introduced to instruct our participants to

perform the task on an English interface website. Participants were encouraged to respond quickly while maintaining accuracy. At the end of each task, participants were instructed to report the gained scores by themselves through Google form. The whole experimental session last for about 90 min.

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Figure 18 Schematic flowchart of experiment procedure

Map-cue condition clip of the route (5 min)

•record sheet study (4 min)

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51 Figure 19 Sample screen image of the online test battery

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For participants in the direction-cue condition, the procedure was quite alike except that participants received direction cue in both real-world and Google Street View wayfinding (see Appendix E for full instructions). In the first phase, participants were instructed to study the direction cue of the wayfinding route for 4 min. The direction cue was then retrieved and participants began to the wayfinding test in NTU campus. After wayfinding test, participants were interview for the strategies they used during the direction cue study period. In the second phase, participants were given a Google Street View demonstration video clip and then had 1 min to practice. Direction cue of GSV wayfinding was given for a 4 min study, followed by wayfinding test in GSV. The experimenter then interviewed with each participant to understand what strategies were adopted while wayfinding. In phase 3, participants were asked to complete an online test battery.

For participants in the walk-cue condition, in the first phase they were told that they

would be accompanied walking throughout the wayfinding route by the experimenter and then they had to navigate the route in the reverse direction on their own. A record sheet was given and participants were able to take any notes that would help them remember the wayfinding route during the accompanied walking. After the accompanied walk, participants had a 4 min study of their record sheet, which was retrieved before wayfinding test. Participants wore a Garmin Oregon 550t GPS receiver and began their

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navigation in the reverse direction of the wayfinding route. Participants were followed by the experimenter and their wayfinding performance was noted. After wayfinding test, participants were interview for the strategies they used during the record sheet study period.

In the second phase, after viewing Google Street View navigation demonstration video and practicing on it, participants were asked to view a 5 min video clip showing the navigation process of the wayfinding route. They could take any notes on a record sheet while viewing and had a 4 min to study their record sheet. After study, participants were instructed to navigate in the normal direction, i.e. they did not have to travel in reverse direction. Their performance was noted by the experimenter (see Appendix F for full instructions). Participants were interviewed and proceeded to complete the online test battery and the experiment session ended.

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Chapter 4. Results and Discussion