Indoor Wayfinding: Developing a Functional Interface for Individuals with Cognitive Impairments
Alan L. Liu, Harlan Hile, Henry Kautz, Gaetano Borriello, Pat A. Brown, Mark Harniss, Kurt Johnson · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06) · doi:10.1145/1168987.1169005
Summary
This paper from the University of Washington describes the design and user evaluation of an indoor wayfinding system for individuals with cognitive impairments, including traumatic brain injury, Down syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, and cerebral palsy. Rather than implementing full localization technology, the researchers used a Wizard-of-Oz approach where two human operators — a location wizard tracking the participant's position on a building map and a navigation wizard sending direction messages — simulated an automated system. This allowed rapid iteration on interface design without the constraints of immature localization technology. The system ran on an HP iPAQ handheld device and delivered navigation instructions through three modalities: photographs of landmarks and decision points with overlaid arrows, text directions, and audio messages. Seven participants aged 26-46 were recruited from a community rehabilitation provider and navigated three routes of varying complexity through an unfamiliar university building, with different combinations of modalities tested in a counterbalanced design.
Key findings
All participants successfully followed directions to their destinations, demonstrating that the interface approach was viable for users with diverse cognitive impairments. However, modality preferences varied dramatically between individuals — some preferred images first, others text, and others audio — with no single modality universally best. Text was popular because users could process it at their own pace, images were valued for providing visual confirmation of location, and audio worked well as a supplement but was less preferred alone due to its fleeting nature. Critical design insights emerged around timing: directions delivered too early (before reaching a decision point) or too late caused confusion and wrong turns. Confirmation messages ("Good" feedback when on the correct path) proved surprisingly important — participants visibly relaxed and gained confidence when receiving them, with one participant replying "of course" aloud. The navigation wizard intuitively began sending more confirmation messages and fewer correction prompts as sessions progressed. One participant with a hearing impairment required modifications (no audio, left/right labels taped to hands), and one wheelchair user needed route adjustments, highlighting that cognitive impairments often co-occur with other disabilities requiring additional accommodations.
Relevance
This paper makes a compelling case that for assistive wayfinding systems targeting people with cognitive impairments, the user interface matters as much as the underlying technology. The finding that no single modality works for all users — and that preferences vary significantly even within a small group — has profound implications for how navigation aids should be designed: personalization and adaptability are not luxury features but essential requirements. The importance of confirmation feedback is a particularly valuable design insight that extends beyond wayfinding to any assistive system for cognitive accessibility — users need reassurance that they are on track, not just correction when they go wrong. The Wizard-of-Oz methodology itself is noteworthy as a model for how to conduct meaningful user research with participants with cognitive disabilities when the full technology stack is not yet ready, avoiding the common problem of waiting for perfect technology before involving actual users. The research also highlights the social dimension: participants expressed concerns about stigma from carrying visible assistive devices, preferring mobile phones over PDAs.
Tags: cognitive impairment · wayfinding · indoor navigation · wizard of oz · multimodal interface · adaptive interface · traumatic brain injury · Down syndrome · cerebral palsy · assistive technology