What is the optimal method of directing newcomers to a specific location in a complex building? Researchers

Question:

What is the optimal method of directing newcomers to a specific location in a complex building? Researchers at Ball State University (Indiana) investigated this “wayfinding” problem and reported their results in Human Factors (Mar. 1993). Subjects met in a starting room on a multilevel building and were asked to locate the “goal” room as quickly as possible. (Some of the subjects were provided directional aids, whereas others were not.) Upon reaching their destination, the subjects returned to the starting room and were given a second room to locate. (One of the goal rooms was located in the east end of the building, the other in the west end.) The experimentally controlled variables in the study were aid type at three levels (signs, map, no aid) and room order at two levels (east/west, west/east). Subjects were randomly assigned to each of the 3 × 2 = 6 experimental conditions; the travel time (in seconds) was recorded. The results of the analysis of the east room data for this 3 × 2 factorial design are provided in the accompanying table. Interpret the results.