Enhancing wayfinding and route learning: a human-centred study of the route-defining locations algorithm

Navigation assistance systems have become integral to our daily routines, helping us to find our way through unfamiliar environments. However, their use may come at a price, as empirical evidence suggests a potentially harmful impact of these systems on our spatial abilities, including the acquisition of spatial knowledge. This could be remedied by giving users more freedom and involving them in the decision-making process. Therefore, we present a navigation system that combines augmented reality and Beeline Navigation (BeeAR). Here, the location of the destination is overlaid with a digital landmark and permanently displayed to the user via a visual, translucent AR display (without a map). Since the digital content is integrated into the real world, no mapping between the device and reality is required, potentially lowering the workload. Making one's own decisions along the route is expected to increase engagement with the environment, leading to increased acquisition of spatial knowledge. We compare BeeAR with findings from a previous study comparing Free Choice Navigation (FCN) and Turn-by-Turn (TBT) navigation conducted along the same routes on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria. Although BeeAR and FCN do not provide users with a map, BeeAR users could better retrace the walked route and remembered more points of interest along the route than FCN users. Participants of all three navigation conditions achieved a high configuration similarity between drawn points of interest and their true locations, albeit only one navigation condition included a map.

Several research studies have recently explored user experience, emphasizing its expanding importance. Due to technology's rapid advancement and new platforms, online user experience management and improvement are becoming more critical. User experience is crucial in the metaverse as it helps build a devoted user following. In the metaverse, gamification, sociability, and personalization can all improve user experience. However, only some studies have integrated and synthesized existing works using the user experience perspective to make metaverse user experience research more consolidated, relevant, and impactful. Content analysis was used on the selected articles to combine the outcomes into five themes: Metaverse as a New Transformational Technology and User Experience, Metaverse Interactivity and User Experience, Metaverse Immersiveness and User Experience, Integrative Flow in Metaverse and User Experience and Metaverse Environment Interface and User Experience. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers will find this study helpful for those interested in user experience and the metaverse. In order to guide future empirical research in the field, the study concludes with a framework consolidating the findings. Keywords: Metaverse; User Experience; Immersiveness; Environment interface; Transformational technology; Interactivity

The user experience measurement can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of an application. One of the tools used to measure the user experience of an application is the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ). UEQ can provide feedback to developers on the Attractiveness, Efficiency, Perspicuity, Dependability, Stimulation, and Novelty aspects of the application, whether it needs improvement or not. This study aims to measure the user experience of UNG E-learning using the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) on these six aspects. This research is quantitative research with a survey method approach. The tool used in analyzing the user experience of e-learning is UEQ. This study showed that the UNG e-learning was seen from the average respondents' answers were between -0.8 and 0.8, which means that the respondents gave neutral answers. Compared to other products in the benchmark, this e-learning gives poor results in Attractiveness, Efficiency, Perspicuity, Dependability, Stimulation, and Novelty. Therefore, this e-learning requires quality improvement in user experience in these six aspects.

In this article, we address the central topic of the call for papers, childhood educates space, from the perspective of children’s and young people’s spatial knowledge. We argue that both childhood and youth educate as much as are educated by space. To shed light on this dynamic and complex interaction, we focus on the arenas and agencies at play within the production and acquisition of spatial knowledge. The term arena refers to the spatial conditions that delineate an area of activity related to the production and acquisition of spatial knowledge, and agency denotes the crucial means, agents, and tools that are instrumental in and buttress such area of activity. To render operative the analysis, we draw on two driving themes: (i) the gradual development of a comprehensive conception of space and (ii) its accompanying (and traversing) learning processes. Moreover, to substantiate the assertion that education between childhood and youth and space is mutually constitutive, we present a selection of findings from a qualitative meta-analysis conducted to reconstruct the evolution of young people’s spatial knowledge from the 1970s onwards. All in all, we claim that the process of production and acquisition of spatial knowledge forms the basis of, on the one hand, the keenness and depth of the perception that children and young people have of the physical world and, on the other, the ways they subjectively and symbolically characterize it.

ABSTRACTUser Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) are two crucial factors in the success of information systems, especially web-based applications and mobile applications. Design elements in web or mobile applications can be made more atrractive, by applying several elements in human-computer interaction theory based on user segmentation, product knowledge, consumer behavior, latest marketing theories, both in terms of visuals, after-effects, display sets, content, multimedia, lay-out menus on the web or mobile applications. In the recent state development of tourism in Bali, tourism transactions and promotions are already based on E-Tourism using web media and mobile applications. Making it easier for tourists to access information and services related to ticketing, transportation, accommodation and even travel packages. This study uses the User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) methods to view usability and web-quality from a web-based E-Tourism websites that promotes tourism in Bali.Keywords: User Interface, User Experience, E-Tourism, Informastion System, Bali Tourism.ABSTRAKUser Interface (UI) dan User Experience (UX) adalah dua faktor krusial dalam keberhasilan sistem informasi, terutama aplikasi berbasis web dan aplikasi mobile. Elemen desain dalam web dapat dibuat lebih menarik, dengan menerapkan beberapa elemen dalam teori interaksi manusia-komputer berdasarkan segmentasi user, pengetahuan produk, perilaku konsumen, teori pemasaran terbaru, baik dari segi visual, after-effect, display set, konten, multimedia, lay-out menu di web atau aplikasi mobile. Dalam perkembangan pariwisata di Bali saat ini, transaksi dan promosi pariwisata sudah berbasis E-Tourism dengan menggunakan media web dan aplikasi mobile. Sehingga mempermudah wisatawan dalam mengakses informasi dan layanan terkait dengan ticketing, transportasi, akomodasi bahkan paket perjalanan wisata. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode User Interface (UI) dan User Experience (UX) untuk melihat usability dan web-quality dari website layanan E-Tourism yang berbasis web yangmempromosikan pariwisata di Bali.Kata kunci: User Interface, User Experience, E-Tourism, Sistem Informasi, Pariwisata Bali.

In this study, I applied the User Experience Questionnaire Short Version and the Visual Aesthetics of Website Inventory: Short Version to assess and improve the user experience of four online information literacy tutorials. I compared non-gamified tutorials with revised tutorials that incorporated user feedback improvements and gamification elements. The subsequent versions provided a more positive user experience. With a larger participant pool, overall UEQ-S mean values indicated neutral user experiences for three tutorials, while one showed a positive user experience. Given university students’ familiarity with digital technology, neutral user experience results are reasonable, considering the comprehensive academic content of these tutorials. The UEQ-S and VisAWI-S were valuable for developing information literacy tutorials to provide an improved user experience.

In this research article, we present the initial results of our case study on improving user experience (UX) in a fully online enrolment process at an e-learning university, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Our main conclusion is that an omnichannel approach is necessary for improving prospective students’ UX. To obtain our results, we made use of three different data sources, which allowed us to map a current and future customer journey. These sources were: (1) quantitative data on the main stages in the process at which prospective students drop out; (2) field diaries compiled by prospective students over the course of the enrolment process and a co-creation workshop with the same prospective students; and (3) the UOC’s perspective, gathered from workshops and interviews with University staff responsible for the enrolment process. Comparing the current journey with the ideal journey, we will demonstrate that significant improvements can be made to prospective students’ UX in online enrolment via an omnichannel approach. We discovered a need for improved channel coordination (e.g. information transfer between channels), greater availability and a wider range of channels (inbound and outbound, telephone vs. chatbot), personalization and adaptation of channel content according to the stage prospective students have reached in the process, and the ability to choose the channel that best meets their needs (chatbot for commonly asked questions vs. real people for more complex or specific queries). In view of our results, we would especially highlight technological and organizational changes as the next steps to take.

Spatial cognition has become an increasingly important area of study since it represents a major type of human knowledge with considerable practical significance. The general assumption is that people’s spatial knowledge forms people’s spatial behaviour, such as navigation, in the environment. However, there are some critical issues within this area, including: how such knowledge is represented and organised, the mechanisms by which it is activated, and the elementary and higher-level cognitive processes that function upon the knowledge base to produce new knowledge as well as the factors that are influential on acquiring spatial knowledge. The theories regarding spatial knowledge acquisitions have attempted to address these issues. This paper discusses these issues by reviewing the literature. As such, the paper firstly provides the research background on spatial knowledge acquisition and the theories of spatial knowledge development. Secondly, the paper debates the main factors affecting acquiring and forming knowledge about the environment. In doing that, the effects of two main factors are discussed: 1) the means of spatial knowledge acquisition (direct experience, physical map, and mobile maps), and 2) the role of different properties of physical environment.

Mobile devices with limited resources are prevalent as they have a relatively low price. Providing a good user experience with limited resources has been a big challenge. This paper found that foreground applications are often unexpectedly interfered by background applications' memory activities. Improving user experience on resource-limited mobile devices calls for a strong collaboration between memory and process management. This paper proposes a framework, Ice, to optimize the user experience on resource-limited mobile devices. With Ice, processes that will cause frequent refaults in the background are identified and frozen accordingly. The frozen application will be thawed when memory condition allows. Evaluation of resource-limited mobile devices demonstrates that the user experience is effectively improved with Ice. Specifically, Ice boosts the frame rate by 1.57x on average over the state-of-the-art.

Understanding and improving user experience is key to strengthening uptake and realizing the potential of chatbots for customer service. In this paper, we investigate customer satisfaction surveys as a source of insight into such user experience. A total of 5,687 customer satisfaction reports on users’ interactions with a customer service chatbot, and the corresponding chatbot interactions, are analyzed. The findings demonstrate that customer satisfaction reports are closely associated with the degree to which the problems motivating users’ chatbot interactions are resolved. Furthermore, the findings show substantial variation in the performance of different chatbot intents in terms of customer satisfaction and problem resolution. This implies that user experience varies substantially depending on the problems motivating users to interact with the chatbot. Finally, we identify key characteristics of the intents associated with particularly high or low customer experience, suggesting paths towards efficient improvement of chatbot user experience. Based on the findings, we point to key implications for theory and practice and suggest directions for future research.

No matter the traditional Ming-style furniture is made of exquisite materials, elegant, and simple, or the literati philosophy, connotation, and literati spiritual outlook, values, world outlook, etc. reflected behind it, all have left us with excellent cultural heritage. As a fast-developing technology, virtual reality has a bright future. This paper mainly studies the Ming-style furniture display based on immersive 5G virtual reality technology. Ming-style furniture displays design prototype system development based on user experience. The prototype of the guided design drawings is completed, the Ming-style furniture and display space is modeled in Unity3d, interactive elements are added, and finally it is realized that users can roam in the scene from a first-person perspective and the furniture in the scene, color, material, etc., as well as the detailed display of the items in the scene, the control of the lights in the scene, the control of the sound, and so on are changed. After the establishment of the system, a certain user evaluation is performed on the established system. Questionnaire surveys, focus group interviews, and other methods are used to conduct very detailed investigations and usability tests on users. Then, the test results are realized and the system is optimized to a certain extent. Finally, the user experience of the system design is improved. The experimental survey results show that the average user experience score is 43.7 points and the rating is in the “good” range, which basically meets the user experience. This research plays an important role in improving user experience and at the same time enriches the research in the field of domestic furniture virtual display and has certain significance for the future development of furniture companies.

Technological progress in the fields of ubiquitous sensing and machine learning has been fueling the development of user-aware human-computer interaction in recent years. Especially natural user interfaces, like digital voice assistants, can benefit from understanding their users in order to provide a more naturalistic experience. Such systems can, for example, detect the emotional state of users and accordingly act in an empathic way. One major research field working on this topic is Affective Computing, where psycho-physiological measures, speech input, and facial expressions are used to sense human emotions. Affective data allows natural user interfaces to respond to emotions, providing promising perspectives not only for user experience design but also for safety aspects. In automotive environments, informed estimations of the driver’s state can potentially avoid dangerous errors and evoking positive emotions can improve the experience of driving. This dissertation explores Affective Automotive User Interfaces using two basic interaction paradigms: firstly, emotion regulation systems react to the current emotional state of the user based on live sensing data, allowing for quick interventions. Secondly, emotional interaction synthesizes experiences which resonate with the user on an emotional level. The constituted goals of these two interaction approaches are the promotion of safe behavior and an improvement of user experience. Promoting safe behavior through emotion regulation: Systems which detect and react to the driver’s state are expected to have great potential for improving road safety. This work presents a model and methods needed to investigate such systems and an exploration of several approaches to keep the driver in a safe state. The presented methods include techniques to induce emotions and to sample the emotional state of drivers. Three driving simulator studies investigate the impacts of emotionaware interventions in the form of implicit cues, visual mirroring and empathic speech synthesis. We envision emotion-awareness as a safety feature which can detect if a driver is unfit or in need of support, based on the propagation of robust emotion detection technology. Improving user experience with emotional interaction: Emotional perception is an essential part of user experience. This thesis entails methods to build emotional experiences derived from a variety of lab and simulator studies, expert feedback, car-storming sessions and design thinking workshops. Systems capable of adapting to the user’s preferences and traits in order to create an emotionally satisfactory user experience do not require the input of emotion detection. They rather create value through general knowledge about the user by adapting the output they generate. During this research, cultural and generational influences became evident, which have to be considered when implementing affective automotive user interfaces in future cars. We argue that the future of user-aware interaction lies in adapting not only to the driver’s preferences and settings but also to their current state. This paves the way for the regulation of safe behavior, especially in safety-critical environments like cars, and an improvement of the driving experience.

In the era of digital transformation, artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in optimizing user experience and interaction design. This study proposes a method using artificial intelligence to create data-based virtual users and integrate these virtual users into the participatory design process to plan and produce products that better meet user needs. This approach reduces the time and cost of traditional user research, decreases researcher bias, and more accurately reflects the true characteristics and needs of diverse user groups. The study uses China's fitness app Keep as a case study, utilizing artificial intelligence to collect and organize quantitative and qualitative data, and creates three typical virtual users representing healthy, overweight, and underweight user groups. These virtual users participated in the UI design process, and feedback and requirements from the virtual users provided design improvement solutions for layout, interaction efficiency, and personalized features. Comparative analysis and user surveys have verified that participatory design based on virtual users created with artificial intelligence is effective in improving user experience. The methods proposed in this study are expected to further disseminate user-centered design and enhance the quality of design.

Product design has increasingly become the process of creating stronger relationships between people and products while improving utility and emotional involvement in today’s fast-paced technological environment. Biosensors that measure physiological and neurological responses have been revolutionary tools in this field. To establish the biosensor-driven design methodology to enhance interactivity and user experience in cultural and creative product design. The device employs electroencephalography (EEG), a sophisticated biosensor, to capture users’ emotional states and preferences as they interact with various cultural elements. The pleasure-arousal-dominance (PAD) model is used to evaluate EEG data. To extract consumers’ perceptual image semantics for product design, factor analysis is used concurrently. An Intelligent Sea Lion Optimization (ISLO), combined with a Resilient Long Short-Term Memory (RLSTM), evaluates user interaction, reducing fatigue from repeated interactions. Designers employ cultural factors to inform the first product prototypes, and the system iteratively refines ideas by matching them to the emotional demands of users. The results indicate the effectiveness of integrating user feedback into interactive design processes. As a result, the ISLO-RLSTM method performed better in RMSE at 1.58, MAE at 1.22, and MSE at 2.17. This approach demonstrates the way biosensors can revolutionize product creation and improve user experiences by bridging the gap between functional design and emotional engagement.

Abstract. Recent years have witnessed the rapid development of navigation systems. They gradually become the default way of navigating in our daily life. Despite benefiting from their convenience, we may be negatively influenced by them (Parush et al. 2007). Current navigation systems usually draw too much of users' attention to the mobile devices, which leads to users’ lacking interaction with the environment. It is often the case that people easily forget travelled route and get lost without navigation systems (Reilly et al. 2008). Empirical study shows that by dividing attention, navigation systems impair users’ spatial memory, and thus impact their navigation skills (Gardony et al. 2013). Since a higher engagement with the environment can improve users’ spatial knowledge acquisition without decreasing efficiency (Brügger et al. 2017), navigation systems should incorporate important environmental features.As objects of visual, cognitive or structural importance (Sorrows & Hirtle 1999), landmarks have been extensively studied, and considered as an important environmental feature to be incorporated into navigation systems (Nuhn & Timpf 2018, Richter 2017, Duckham et al. 2010, Raubal & Winter 2002). They serve as references to provide users with more natural and pleasant navigating experience (Richter & Winter 2014). However, most of landmark-related studies are in outdoor environment. Although researchers have attempted to classify and assess indoor landmarks (Ohm 2014, Viaene 2014), it is still very difficult to determine suitable ones. As a subset of semantic indoor landmarks, existing navigational aids (e.g. signs and floor plans) are designed to assist navigation. Among them, signs are most preferred by users (Wang et al. 2017). Being the signs that give necessary information to route users to possible destinations, directional signs contribute most to wayfinding (Gibson 2009). With route information explicitly presented by them, they are relevant environmental features to be incorporated into indoor navigation systems.In this study, we therefore propose to incorporate directional signs into indoor navigation systems, in order to guide users’ attention back to the environment, to facilitate their spatial learning and improve their spatial knowledge acquisition.We incorporated directional signs into a proof-of-concept indoor navigation system. First, we integrated directional signs and their semantics into a graph-based model. A directional sign was modelled as a node. Each destination on the sign was linked with the sign by an edge. In order to differentiate it from the normal edge, it was marked as semantic edge. Thus, the semantics of the sign was modelled directly into the graph, instead of being stored as attributes in a previous version of our study (Wang & Gartner 2018). Then, a top-K shortest path algorithm was employed to find candidate routes (Yen 1971). In the end, the route with the largest coverage of semantic edges was suggested to the user. The users would then be explicitly guided to follow the directional signs in the environment.In the next step, we will evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed navigation system by an empirical study with human subjects. Within the experiment, we will also investigate on whether this kind of guidance can succeed in drawing users’ attention back to the environment and support their spatial knowledge acquisition.