AirportLogic: Usability testing, prototyping, and analysis of an airport wayfinding application

Abstract

As air travel continues to be prevalent in our lives, and as the use of mobile devices designed to assist us become more common, the creation of wayfinding applications for mobile devices continues to be a challenge for both developers and interface designers. Unfortunately, many airport specific wayfinding applications do not live up to user expectations. In preliminary project phases, usability testing and evaluation of existing applications was performed, followed by prototyping and evaluation of a proposed application. Task-based user testing was performed to address two primary questions: 1) are current and proposed applications efficient for users?, and 2) is the information architecture and navigation suitable for average users? A prototype application and corresponding website were developed, and tested, with user testing confirming enhancements over previous airport way finding applications. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.