Investigating aesthetics to afford more ‘felt’ knowledge and ‘meaningful’ navigation interface designs

Aesthetically manipulating the visual variables of a navigation interface design has the potential for substantial improvements in the interpretation of, and subsequent navigational choices made resulting from that design. This paper reports on a study that explores how an ‘optimal’ path is understood across fifteen different types of route map designs for ten cities (approximately 150 route map designs in total). We are interested in how participants make sense of the route map, and subsequently choose an optimal pathway. The findings show that participants who experience certain aesthetically designed route maps are more inclined to meaningfully link information and create connections. By more deeply understanding people’s perceptions of the aesthetics of a navigation problem space – particularly the ways in which people value and connect with aesthetic elements and how these impact the decisions made – a novel insight into individuals’ understanding of data visualisation and how aesthetics affect is achieved.