A Pathfinder for Wayfinding in Virtual Museums

Wayfinding is a psychological process by which people find their way through their environment to a destination. It is a dynamic process that incorporates perception, cognition and decision-making.[1] The term was first used by city planners, designers and architects who were concerned with how people find their way through the environments they design. Behaviorists then began to study the psychological processes that contribute to wayfinding behavior. Now, designers and architects of virtual worlds find that wayfinding behavior and established design principles are relevant to their field as well and are implementing these principles in their projects.

The purpose of this pathfinder is to provide resources to those who would like to implement or study wayfinding principles, practices and design in virtual museums or other complex virtual environments. It is geared to those who already have some knowledge of or interest in virtual museums and would more information on the specific topic of wayfinding. The pathfinder is designed to lead students, researchers, designers, curators, and others through the development of a basic understanding of wayfinding - the psychological processes, design principles, and best practices. Once the basics of wayfinding are established the pathfinder moves on to resources for current research in wayfinding, especially in the area of virtual environments and museums. With this pathfinder users will be able to find answers to questions such as: What is wayfinding? Why is wayfinding important? How is wayfinding related to virtual museums? How does one design for successful wayfinding in traditional and virtual environments?

The resources in this pathfinder are limited to English language sources available from the University of Texas Austin General Libraries or the World Wide Web. The UT resources include printed materials as well as electronic resources accessible via UT’s Libraries Online (UTLOL). I selected resources that would give a good overview of human wayfinding processes, traditional wayfinding design, and virtual wayfinding design. My intention is provide the most accessible resources that would lay a good foundation on the subject and with which users could investigate special wayfinding topics on their own.

Wayfinding is not a valid Library of Congress Subject Heading and I found that the subjects often associated with wayfinding behavior such as “cognitive maps” and “spatial orientation” were far to broad to produce results relevant to the purpose of the pathfinder. I searched the UT catalog and found monographs using the mixed keyword “wayfinding”. I then browsed UTLOL Indexes and Abstracts and selected those that covered science, engineering, or technology and assessed their relevance by searching for the terms “wayfinding” and “virtual” or “virtual museum” separately and then in combination. I did search the Internet using the Google search engine. I found that combining the terms “wayfinding” and “virtual” produced the most relevant hits, however, it was a quite a large number. I don’t recommend the Internet search as it was not very efficient and the authority of some of the hits was suspect. I conclude that the topic of wayfinding, especially as it pertains to virtual museums is very specialized and relevant information can be found by simply using the term wayfinding as a keyword alone and if necessary narrowing the search by using the keyword “virtual”.

1. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4^th ed.). (1994). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. PCL REF BF 76.7 P82 1994

2. Virtual Museum. In the Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved October 7, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.britannica.com/

The Encyclopedia Britannica is a good resource from which to start research as it will give an overview of a topic as well as additional resources and related topics. The article on virtual museums provides a short summary on the subject. It describes the features of virtual museums, their origins, and supplies names of online museum directories and exhibits.

3. Ramdchandran, V.S. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Human Behavior. San Diego: Academic Press, 1994. PCL REF BF 31 E5 1994

This encyclopedia is a four volume set that covers all aspects of human behavior. Articles are lengthy, comprehensive, signed and include bibliographies. See the index for the entry “wayfinding”. The section on wayfinding discusses the basic strategies that people use to navigate through space..

The following indexes provide citations and abstracts of journal articles and conference papers. The databases are available online through the UT Library Online (UTLOL)[2] homepage. To access these databases select “Indexes, Abstracts and Full-Text” then “find resource by title” by selecting the first letter of the resource. Using the term “wayfinding” will usually not produce too many hits, but results can be narrowed by combining “wayfinding” and “virtual”.

Indexes a large number of scholarly journals from a variety of disciplines. It includes the full text of 50 journals. These journals include those covering the subjects of psychology and human behavior. The database in updated daily.

5. Ei Compendex*Plus. Hoboken, NJ.: Engineering Information Inc. Accessed October 20, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://cpxweb.ei.org/.

The Ei Compendex database covers 2600 journals and conferences in the areas of engineering and applied science. Coverage begins in 1970 and is updated weekly. This is one of the best sources for articles that cover wayfinding and virtual museums from the technical perspective.

6. HCI Bibliography. Accessed October 20, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hicbib.org/.

This is an online bibliography of articles and research on areas related to human-computer interaction. It is free to the public, is maintained by volunteers and is updated frequently. Its purpose is to collect HCI resources for anyone interested in the field, from researchers and developers to students. Human-Computer interaction is defined as a “discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them.”[3] Wayfinding, especially in virtual worlds, is definitely relevant to human-computer interaction.

7. UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Ann Arbor, MI.: Bell & Howell Information and Learning. Accessed October 22, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/gateway.

This resource is extremely comprehensive in coverage, indexing more than 1.6 million doctoral dissertations and master’s theses dating back to 1861, with approximately 47,000 dissertations and 12,000 theses added annually. Many citations include abstracts and full text is available recent entries. This is a great resource for finding current research and studies on wayfinding from various disciplines such as psychology, architecture, and technology.

8. Arthur, P., & Passini, R. (1992). Wayfinding: people, signs, and architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. NA 2750 A69 1992 Architecture Library

Although this book’s focus is on wayfinding in the physical world, particularly as it relates to architecture, it is still a valuable resource that provides a complete understanding of wayfinding processes and appropriate design. The book covers the issue of wayfinding, its principles, the principles of wayfinding design, and the architectural, graphic, audible and tactile components of wayfinding design. These design principles and concepts can be integrated into virtual environments.

9. Golledge, R.G. (Ed.). (1999). Wayfinding behavior: cognitive mapping and other spatial processes. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. BF 314 W38 1999 PCL Stacks

This resource contains a collection of scholarly papers on the topic of wayfinding and cognitive mapping. It gives the reader an in-depth explanation of wayfinding by focusing on the scientific bases and processes of wayfinding. Topics include perceptual and cognitive processing, and the neural and computational bases of wayfinding and cognitive maps.

10. Passini, R. (1992). Wayfinding in architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. NA 2765 P37 1992 Architecture Library

This is one of the premier books on wayfinding design. “The author fully explains general design procedures for wayfinding, based on recent empirical field data.”[4] It is a very readable book that includes cultural and historical information on wayfinding and provides many illustrations and examples. This book is frequently cited in wayfinding research.

11. Cerulli, C. (1999). Exploiting the potential of 3D navigable virtual exhibition spaces. Museums and the Web 1999. Pittsburgh, PA.: Archives & Museum Informatics. Retrieved October 22, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.archimuse.com/mw99/papers/cerulli/cerulli.html

Cerulli’s paper examines the changes of museum spaces through the centuries and compares this development with current virtual museums. This paper gives readers the context of how wayfinding fits into the design of museum and virtual museum spaces.

12. Darken, R.P. & Sibert, J.L. (1996). Wayfinding strategies and behaviors in large virtual worlds. CHI ’96 Electronic Proceedings. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. Retrieved October 22, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigchi/chi96/proceedings/.

The authors of this paper “assert that knowledge about human wayfinding in the physical world can be applied to construct aids for wayfinding in virtual worlds.”[5] The paper goes on to discuss the results of their study that support their hypothesis. This is vital information for those designing virtual spaces.

Foltz’s thesis offers design and presentation principles for navigational tools that assist information seeking behavior in virtual environments. The design principles of wayfinding, communication, and the computational medium are discussed. In order to illustrate his points, Foltz analyzes online educational museum exhibits for examples of successful usage of these principles.

14. Satalich, G.A. (1995). Navigation and wayfinding in virtual reality: Finding proper tools and cues to enhance navigation awareness. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Washington, Seattle. Retrieved October 22, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hitl.washington.edu/publications/satalich/home.html

The first two chapters of this thesis are especially useful as they provide definitions and a literature review that relate to navigation and wayfinding. However, the actual study is of limited interest as it discusses the virtual environment as a navigational training tool for wayfinding in the physical world.

15. CHI conference on human factors in computing systems. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. Retrieved October 23, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.acm.org/sigchi/conferences/

The purpose of this international conference is for professionals in the area of computer-human interaction to discuss their findings in the field. While this resource might not have a vast quantity of information on wayfinding currently, wayfinding is related to the field of CHI there will undoubtedly be new developments and studies in the area of wayfinding and navigation in computer technology.

16. Museums and the Web. Pittsburgh, PA.: Archives and Museum Informatics. Retrieved October 23, 2000 from the World Wide Web:

Museums and the Web is an international conference that began in 1997. Its purpose is for professionals working with museums and the Web to present and share ideas, theories, methods, practices, tools and techniques. This resource is good for keeping abreast of current professional research and practices in the area of virtual museums.

17. Google. Accessed October 22, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.google.com/.

The Google search engine is a good place to find resources on the Internet. It indexes over 1 billion sites. The technology used by Google ranks relevancy by the number of other sites linking to the particular site. Google has a straightforward search interface, that allows for simple or advanced searches, as well as a search directory for browsing. The most relevant resources on wayfinding in virtual museums can be found combining the terms “wayfinding” and “virtual”.

18. University of Texas Libraries Online. Austin, TX.: University of Texas. Accessed October 29, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/

The UTLOL is the homepage for the University of Texas’ General Libraries. It not only provides general information on the General Libraries, but includes links to the UT catalog, electronic resources, Web resources, among much more. It is a access point when doing research.

Wayfinding is a psychological process by which people find their way through their environment to a destination. It is a dynamic process that incorporates perception, cognition and decision-making.[6] Designers and architects of virtual worlds find that wayfinding behavior and established design principles are relevant to their field and are implementing these principles in their projects.

The purpose of this pathfinder is to provide resources to those who would like to implement or study wayfinding principles, practices and design in virtual museums or other complex virtual environments. The sources in this pathfinder are available from the UT General Libraries or on the World Wide Web. The selected resources provide a good overview of human wayfinding processes, traditional wayfinding design, and virtual wayfinding design.

Encyclopedias are a good resource for a brief overview of a topic and are a source for additional resources. Wayfinding is such a specialized topic it is not covered in a general encyclopedia; it is necessary to consult a specialized encyclopedia. Wayfinding is a cognitive human behavior related to perception and therefore would be found in a specialized psychology encyclopedia. It is important to refer to the index because the term may be a section within a broader article and might not have its own alphabetical entry, as was the case with the following resource.

At this point you may want to gain a deeper understanding of the process of wayfinding. You can search the UT catalog for monographs or search an index for journal articles. Combining the keywords “wayfinding” and “cognitive mapping”, “cognition” or “cognitive” in a search will elicit those records that focus more on the behavioral aspect of wayfinding rather than the design practices.

There are two fundamental books on the topic of wayfinding. Both are very readable and contain numerous illustrations and examples. These books provide a good base of knowledge by covering the principles, practices, tools and techniques of designing for successful wayfinding.

Where can I find current research on wayfinding and design, including virtual design?

More current research can be found in journals, conference papers and dissertations. The following are specialized databases that index items from sources that fit into specific criteria, such as engineering and scientific journals.

To find general or more traditional wayfinding topics simply use the keyword “wayfinding”. Usually there are a manageable number of hits returned with this simple search. However, in order to narrow a search for virtual design combine “wayfinding” with terms such as “virtual” or “world wide web”.

There is not extensive published research on the topic of wayfinding in virtual museums specifically. Currently, you are able to find a lot of research on wayfinding in virtual environments, in general. Below are a two papers available on the Web that discuss the topic of wayfinding in virtual environments.

How can I monitor new research in the area of wayfinding and virtual museums?

New and developing research is often discussed at professional conferences. Research and trends can be monitored by either attending the conferences or obtaining the conference proceedings. Conferences are also a place where professionals share their best practices and techniques and can learn from their colleagues and experts in the field. Below are two conferences recommended to those interested in wayfinding in virtual environments.

While this pathfinder provides resources for research on wayfinding, librarians at the UT General Libraries are always available to provide additional assistance with search techniques, additional resources and any questions you may have. Consult the UT Libraries Online Website for reference hours, locations and phone numbers.

Introduction Annotated Bibliography Pathfinder

[1] Arthur, P., & Passini, R. (1992). Wayfinding: people, signs, and architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

[2] University of Texas Library Online. www.lib.utexas.edu.

[3] ACM SIGCHI. (1996) Chapter 2: Human-computer interaction. ACM SIGCHI Curricula for human-computer interaction. New York: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.acm.org/sigchi/cdg/cdg2.html

[4] Passini, R. (1992). Wayfinding in architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

[5] Darken, R.P. & Sibert, J.L. (1996). Wayfinding strategies and behaviors in large virtual worlds. CHI ’96 Electronic Proceedings. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. Retrieved October 22, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigchi/chi96/proceedings/.

[6] Arthur, P., & Passini, R. (1992). Wayfinding: people, signs, and architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.