Introduction
In the last few years, navigation signs at railway stations in Japan have drawn more attention because of the complicated spatial configuration of these stations and increasing numbers of foreign visitors. Most Japanese railway companies have established their own signage plans based on government guidelines. However, during surveys of railway stations, we found “official signs” (Fig. 1) conforming to signage plans, as well as “additional signs” (Fig. 2) made by the staff at local stations. Our previous user evaluation study identified the positive and negative factors of additional signs, using an online survey focusing on the amount of information and the design elements in these signs. In this study, in continuation with the previous report, we assess the positive and negative elements of additional signs, based on user evaluation focusing on installation location.
Method
An online questionnaire survey about additional signs was conducted among 3, 446 station users who expressed an interest in station signs. The respondents evaluated several station signs on a five-step scale (Fig. 3), using the semantic differential method, with nine evaluation items selected by the authors (Table 1). The images used for evaluation were created by the authors to represent different locations encountered in the process of transferring trains in the station premises. All images were drawn with lines to prevent environmental factors from affecting the evaluation. The images show five different locations: platform (Fig. 4), stairs up to a concourse from a platform (Fig. 5), stairs down from a concourse to a platform (Fig. 6), concourse (Fig. 7), and ticket gates (Fig. 8). Each evaluation image presents additional signs in three or four different locations.
Results
Table 4 summarizes the negative and positive factors affecting the user evaluation.
1) Three groups of response trends Based on a hierarchical cluster analysis, response trends were clustered into three groups: above eye-level, floor, and narrow space (Fig. 14). The respondents evaluated the group “above eye-level" higher on the scale compared to the group “narrow space". Typical official signs are located in this “above eye-level” area. The evaluation of the group “floor” was intermediate; however, elderly respondents evaluated this group slightly lower than younger respondents (Table 3).
2) Evaluation trend based on attractiveness Among the five questions on attractiveness (Group A), respondent evaluation of “appropriate position” and “expecting to be there” were the same. Meanwhile, “readable while walking” and the other two questions showed a different evaluation trend (Fig. 16).
3) Influence of viewing angle between user and sign The signs facing perpendicular to the user's line of sight were evaluated higher than the ones that were parallel (Fig. 17).
Conclusions
This study reveals both positive and negative elements regarding the location of additional signs. The findings are expected to be utilized to aid in the setup of additional signs and to improve signage plans for railway stations.
