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Wayfinding: A simple concept, a complex process

Author

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  • Anna Charisse Farr
  • Tristan Kleinschmidt
  • Prasad Yarlagadda
  • Kerrie Mengersen

Abstract

Wayfinding is the process of finding your way to a destination in a familiar or unfamiliar setting using any cues given by the environment. Due to its ubiquity in everyday life, wayfinding appears on the surface to be a simply characterized and understood process; however, this very ubiquity and the resulting need to refine and optimize wayfinding has led to a great number of studies that have revealed that it is in fact a deeply complex exercise. In this article, we examine the motivations for investigating wayfinding, with particular attention being paid to the unique challenges faced in transportation hubs, and discuss the associated principles and factors involved as they have been perceived from different research perspectives. We also review the approaches used to date in the modelling of wayfinding in various contexts. We attempt to draw together the different perspectives applied to wayfinding and postulate the importance of wayfinding and the need to understand this seemingly simple, but concurrently complex, process.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Charisse Farr & Tristan Kleinschmidt & Prasad Yarlagadda & Kerrie Mengersen, 2012. "Wayfinding: A simple concept, a complex process," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 715-743, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:transr:v:32:y:2012:i:6:p:715-743
    DOI: 10.1080/01441647.2012.712555
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jan Ženka & Jan Macháček & Pavel Michna & Pavel Kořízek, 2021. "Navigational Needs and Preferences of Hospital Patients and Visitors: What Prospects for Smart Technologies?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Susanne Ulrich & Eva Grill & Virginia L Flanagin, 2019. "Who gets lost and why: A representative cross-sectional survey on sociodemographic and vestibular determinants of wayfinding strategies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, January.
    3. A. Charisse Farr & Kerrie Mengersen & Fabrizio Ruggeri & Daniel Simpson & Paul Wu & Prasad Yarlagadda, 2020. "Combining Opinions for Use in Bayesian Networks: A Measurement Error Approach," International Statistical Review, International Statistical Institute, vol. 88(2), pages 335-353, August.
    4. Lingzhu Zhang & Alain JF Chiaradia, 2022. "Walking in the cities without ground, how 3d complex network volumetrics improve analysis," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(7), pages 1857-1874, September.
    5. Zhang, Xu & Zhang, Wei & Lee, Paul Tae-Woo, 2020. "Importance rankings of nodes in the China Railway Express network under the Belt and Road Initiative," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 134-147.
    6. Hai Xiao & Congli Xue & Jiahao Yu & Chuwei Yu & Guoqiang Peng, 2023. "Spatial Morphological Characteristics of Ethnic Villages in the Dadu River Basin, a Sino-Tibetan Area of Sichuan, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Mackett, Roger L., 2021. "Policy interventions to facilitate travel by people with mental health conditions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 306-313.
    8. Lixiao Wang & Zhenya Zhang & Shijun Lu & Jianhu Wang, 2024. "Behavior Selection Models of Fire Evacuations with the Consideration of Adaptive Evacuation Psychologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-15, April.
    9. C. Natalie van der Wal & Daniel Formolo & Mark A. Robinson & Steven Gwynne, 2021. "Examining Evacuee Response to Emergency Communications with Agent-Based Simulations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, April.
    10. van Lierop, D. & Soemers, J. & Hoeke, L. & Liu, G. & Chen, Z. & Ettema, D. & Kruijf, J., 2020. "Wayfinding for cycle highways: Assessing e-bike users' experiences with wayfinding along a cycle highway in the Netherlands," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

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