The Urban Guide Sign Ergonomics Research Based On User Mental Model

As one of the six major traffic signs, the guide sign is mainly used for transmittingroad direction, location, distance, ect.. The tic-tac-toe structure of the urban roaddetermines that the information of the urban guide sign is more complex and diversethan the highway. At the same time, the domestic guide sign in different cities havedifferent layout and they are lack of unified specification. Therefore in the process ofusing urban road guide sign, identification, interpretation, understanding error s andthe resulting problems such as user wrong way choosing, travel cost increasing, trafficjams, as well as traffic accidents are more common.This research has combined the status quo investigation, focus group, questionnairesurvey and laboratory experiment to study the elements selection and space layout ofthe guide sign. On the basis of the status quo investigation, the research has identifiedthe problems of elements selection and space layout of the guide sign. And on thebasis of the user need study, the research has determined the KANO modelclassification of the guide sign elements. What’s more, the research throughergonomic experiment has verified the layout improvement effect.This study consists of three parts: Research one, through focus group interviewsand questionnaire survey, the research has studied the users’ need of the guide signelements, and has determined the KANO model classification. Research two, throughthe typical layout performance contrast experiment and response bias experiment hasdetermined the advantages and disadvantages of the existing guide signs, as well asthe use’s typical operation model. Research three, based onresearch one and two, hasimproved the guide sign, at the same time, compared the new and old guide sign.The main conclusions of this research are as follows:1. Existing problems: The biggest problems of the current guide sign is the elementtype is not enough, it is difficult to meet users’ needs. The biggest problem isfollowed by the problem of layout confusion and too much elements. 2. Element selection: this research suggests that, in addition to the road nameinformation, the priority of the guide sign elements should present as follows:①direction sign (one-dimentional (O))②current location (attractive (A))③distance (attractive (A))④landmark buildings or places (attractive (A))⑤house number segment (attractive (A))⑥more than one road on the same direction (indifferent (I))⑦English, pinyin or local language (indifferent (I))3. Space layout: The arrangement of the road name should match the trend of actualroad. This study suggests that the road names on both sides of the guide sign shouldbe longitudinal arrangement, the upper two road names should increase theunderline to indicate they are on the same straight line, at the same time, increasethe current location. The experiments in this research have established that theimproved layouts had significantly improved the navigation performance.