Narrating the route: : Route memorability in navigation instructions augmented with narrative

Abstract

From oral histories to mnemonic devices, humans have an excellent ability to remember object sequences and their relationships inside of narratives (Baddeley, 1999). In pedestrian wayfinding, remembering landmarks and their relationships is considered key to learning routes (Denis, Mores, Gras, Gyselinck & Daniel, 2014). This is especially critical in mobile navigation, as it has been well-established that the use of GPS devices with metric turn-by-turn directions during wayfinding hinders spatial knowledge acquisition, both in the short-term and over time (Ishikawa, 2019). However, these devices are ubiquitous in our world today. In an attempt to develop alternative methods of route communication, some have found that using landmark-based route instructions facilitate the memorability of routes. In addition, instructions rich in visual imagery improve memorability of routes (Tom & Denis, 2004; Tom & Tversky, 2012). Few researchers have suggested alternatives to how landmark-based route instructions might be communicated beyond simple turn-by-turn directions. In addition, narrative as an aid to wayfinding has not yet been explored in outdoor environments.This research aims to identify whether augmenting verbal route instructions with a narrative increases the memorability of a route. It is proposed that adding information in the form of narrative may make it easier for users to form meaningful connections between landmarks and thus, better remember a route in an urban environment. Narrative theory was applied as a framework to augment navigation instructions with a narrative about Johann Strauss. First, the key components of a narrative were identified. Then, these components were utilized to craft narrative navigation instructions. The instructions were tested against a control in an in-situ wayfinding study in Vienna (N = 18). After learning a short route (800m, 13 landmarks), participants recalled the route verbally, completed a photo-based landmark sequencing task and discussed their answers. One week later, a route recognition task and second photo-based landmark sequencing task was completed online.Results show no significant differences between the narrative and control groups when measured using quantitative methods. However, in interviews, the narrative group often cited the narrative when sequencing photos and during verbal recall. These results suggest that incorporating narratives into route directions can be further explored, but that the phenomenon may not be well-measured using quantitative methods. This research further confirms the potential of landmark-based instructions to facilitate route memory, contributes to the growing body of work augmenting route directions with additional information, and could encourage designers to consider other route communication methods.