A wearable eye tracker was utilised to study paths and observation of directional signs at main railway station in Katowice. For the purpose of identifying confusion points due to inadequate signage, the task of finding the railway station from a tram stop, finding train schedule, ticket office, and then platform was assigned to 16 young people who were either familiar or not familiar with the area. No meaningful differences were found between the two groups in terms of time to complete the task and the distance travelled. The simple and logical layout of Katowice railway station made the task easy, which is in stark contrast with prior similar experiment done at Kraków Główny railway station, where the differences were very significant and major confusions were recorded. Approximately 50% of directional signs and displays that were visible to test participants were observed, with no meaningful difference between the two groups, which is similar to the prior experiment. The outcome confirms that simplicity of transportation hub design is critical in minimising confusion amongst passengers.
Finding the Way at Katowice Railway Station: An Eye Tracking Experiment