Abstract
The authors review academic literature concerning the effect of environmental stimuli and architectural design on human behavior and navigation in urban environments. They find that a combination of architectural features such as building floor plans and local landmarks; environmental stimuli such as crowding, lighting and color; and user characteristics such as age, sex and socio-economic status, all impact decision making and the ability of pedestrians to navigate unfamiliar spaces. Applying these findings to the field of pedestrian planning, the authors conclude that a failure to properly account for human factors and psychology may negatively impact spatial navigability and user experiences, and that architects, urban planners, developers, and property owners/managers would benefit from incorporating existing research into common practice.
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Notes
- 1.
In one study of shoppers’ behaviors within retail environments, Forrest (2013) finds that subtle changes to design and layout influence purchasing behaviors. Upon entering a store, customers focus on adjusting to their new environment and are less likely to notice signage or items such as hand-held shopping baskets. However, when baskets were moved further into the store, more customers pick them up, which allowed them to carry and ultimately purchase more merchandise (Underhill, 1999 cited in Forrest 2013, 203).
- 2.
Studies also note links between crowds and emotional state; the term “emotional contagion” refers to the phenomenon of moods and emotions transmitted between individuals, including in commonly occurring day-to-day behaviors passed on by facial expressions, posture, movement, and vocalization [32].
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Durante, A., Rivers, E., Beane, G., Chau, R. (2018). Understanding the Effect of Architectural and Environmental Features on Human Behavior. In: Ahram, T., Falcão, C. (eds) Advances in Usability and User Experience. AHFE 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 607. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60492-3_49
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