Munich Airport improves wayfinding

Awarded the coveted title of "Europe's Best Airport" 12 times, Munich Airport prides itself on providing an unrivaled passenger experience.

The background

An essential part of this is wayfinding which ensures ease of navigation for travelers as they make their way through the facility. The airport had information on footfall and how many passengers pass through various points, but it was lacking proven insights into how people engage with their surrounds, in particular, how they see and interpret signs and other information sources. 

The airport wished to examine passenger engagement with signage along several key routes, in order to ensure understanding and route clarity for passenger as they transit through the terminals, as well as to reach an even distribution of patronage across the airport’s shops and services. Understanding how advertising material was viewed in conjunction with navigation signage was another key focus of the study.

The method

Over four days Tobii collected gaze data from real travelers using Tobii eye tracking glasses. After the volunteer participants finished their journey within the airport, they were surveyed to gather information on their level of understanding regarding the signs and information present during their journey.

The data delivered results on several key elements including:

• Visibility - was the sign positioned in a way that it could be seen properly.
• Attention - did travelers visually engage with the sign, and if so, for how long and with what parts.
• Understanding - did travelers correctly understand the information the sign was designed to communicate?

The conclusion

The study revealed that passengers largely ignored information on navigation signage that wasn’t relevant to their journey and as a result the airport adjusted instructional floor signage. Furthermore, the effectiveness of dynamic digital displays was validated by the study results.