Complexity in contemporary cities and buildings- especially for newcomers- may affect man-environment relations regarding finding the right path to a destination. For many years, architects and urban designers have dealt with a big concern about Wayfinding in outdoor and indoor environments. One may discuss Wayfinding for a large network of paths associated solely with cities, but research has found buildings as a challenging context for people to find their ways. Romedi Passini and Paul Arthur (1992) developed theories on Wayfinding to indoor environments. Through experimental studies, they found environmental and human attributes affecting Wayfinding. Research has categorized the findings into classes as strategies extracted from environmental physical aspects used by people in appropriate situations. This study examines Wayfinding in healthcare environments (hospital), which serves many people everyday. Having a wide range of healthcare services, hospitals should provide a diverse set of spaces connecting to each other. In addition, time plays an essential role. So, taking patients to the right destination, paths must work effectively. Looking through the researches on Wayfinding and considering results in healthcare environments, we found a lack. Emergency conditions, which may change the  findings, were neglected in most researches. So, considering such stressful situations, we designed an experimental research in a hospital in Tehran, Iran. The research had 9 participants (4 men, 5 women) find 3 destinations. Recall that the survey accomplished in pandemic. We selected a hospital from 3 hospitals for its complexity, lots of users, and accessibility to the maps and documents. Participants were requested not to ask others for the address. They should have thought loudly about where they intent to go, why they took a path and which environmental attributes they recorded. To simulate emergency conditions, survey had time limits. The participants had chronometers and should have checked it along the paths. We engaged two persons recording participants’ behavior maps and thoughts. Through a systematic and unsystematic observation, six strategies were examined in all nodes and throughout the paths: straight path, avoiding vertical change, brightest path, wider path, signs, and plenty of probable decision making nodes. Analyses on participants’ Wayfinding behavior showed three different interpretations on nodes where people chose strategies to take the paths: a) strategies failed to be ascribed, b) strategies not aligned with the previous findings, and c) strategies aligned with the previous findings. Contrary to the previous results, half of the participants did not take “straight and longer paths” in the potential nodes. The result confirmed people dislike changing floors. Research on how brightness affect Wayfinding in hospitals should be repeated since there were no discrepancies on brightness in the paths. In line with previous results, participants’ behavior showed an intention to choose wider paths. They also frequently pointed to the sings- special architectural and functional fixed signs- to find their way. As for the last strategy, participants preferred to have less decision making nodes since conditions had limited time. We concluded that the strategies not aligned with previous findings rooted in the conditions were ignored. Designers could benefit from the findings.

Introduction Wayfinding is an important aspect that should be considered to help guide tourists to tourism cities. Citizens 'Wayfinding behavior is different from tourists' Wayfinding behavior due to differences in the degree of familiarity with the environment and different perceptions of the environment. This causes Wayfinding Anxiety among tourists. A basic principle in reducing tourists Wayfinding Anxiety in tourism cities is user-centered design and taking into account the cultural characteristics of tourists. Because urban tourism arises from the movement of human beings with different cultures, and each tourist, according to its cultural characteristics, emphasizes certain aspects of Wayfinding. Considering the special cultural values of tourists and the impact on Wayfinding behavior, there seems to be a significant relationship between cultural values of tourists and their Wayfinding Anxiety. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to explain the effect of cultural values on the Wayfinding Anxiety of Azeri and Mazani subcultural tourists in District 8 of Mashhad Municipality for facilitate the Wayfinding of these tourists. This study also explains the differences and similarities between the Wayfinding Anxiety of the tourists of the subcultures by emphasizing their cultural values. Methodology This research is applied in terms of purpose and survey in terms of data collection method. District 8 of Mashhad Municipality has been selected as the environment of research due to the high potentials of tourism and the high volume of tourists and the lack of proper measures to facilitate their Wayfinding. According to field observations and questions from the authorities of tourist accommodation, two subcultures Azeri (Provinces of East, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil) and Mazani (Mazandaran province), which constitute a large volume of the population of domestic tourists to District 8 of Mashhad Municipality, have been selected as a case study. The statistical population is domestic tourists in Mashhad in 2020 (30 million people) that the two groups of tourists (97 people) were purposefully sampled in District 8. Based on the prototype and estimating the ratio of Azeri tourists to Mazani (2: 1), the sample size is obtained according to the Cochran's formula. In this research, a combined comparative method has been used. First, after forming the research topic and determining the research questions and purpose, the theoretical framework was developed with the help of theoretical propositions. Then, field information was collected from the samples using a questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was obtained using Cronbach's alpha method in SPSS software, "0. 711", which indicates the optimal validity of the questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire has been evaluated by face validity method by experts and its reliability has been confirmed. Results and discussion According to the results of comparing the components of cultural values of tourists (Azeri and Mazani) in Mashhad using t-test, cultural values of "individualism/collectivism, masculinity/ femininity, uncertainty avoidance, orientation, negligence/strictness» with a significance rate of less than 0. 05, have been associated with the subculture of tourists and have created a significant difference between Azeri and Mazani tourists. Also, by comparing the components of Wayfinding Anxiety of Azeri and Mazani tourists using t-test, the components of "getting lost, unfamiliarity with the environment, complexity of the environment, limited time for Wayfinding, unsafe environments, spatial memory, adventure rate, survey strategy" with a significance level of less than 0. 05, they have created a significant difference between Azeri and Mazani tourists, which can be explained according to the cultural values of each of the two groups of tourists under study. According to the findings from Chi-square and Kramer correlation tests, the amount of chi-square obtained by comparing the frequencies of Azeri and Mazani tourists in 5 variable classes of anxious situations in Wayfinding is 21. 094, which is statistically significant. The value of Kramer correlation coefficient is 0. 466 and the criterion of decision is 0. 000. Therefore, there is a significant relationship with high intensity between anxious situations and each two groups of tourists. Also the amount of chi-square obtained by comparing the frequencies of Azeri and Mazani tourists in 5 variable categories of Wayfinding guidance tools is equal to 18. 429 and the value of Kramer correlation coefficient is equal to 0. 436 and the value of the decision criterion is 0. 001. Therefore, there is a significant relationship with high intensity between Wayfinding tools in times of Anxiety and each of the two groups of tourists in this study. According to the results of qualitative analysis of tourist Wayfinding Anxiety factors and Wayfinding strategies in times of Anxiety, Azeri pointed to categories that can be explained by their low reliability and individualism and the mentioned categories from the point of view of Mazani tourists are derived from their high credibility and collectivism. Conclusions Facilitating the Wayfinding process and identifying where a person is located, where they want to go, and from where and how they will reach their destination is an unavoidable necessity in the design and planning process of tourism cities to be considered. In none of the previous researches, the relationship between culture and tourism Wayfinding behavior as well as the role of tourists' cultural values on Wayfinding Anxiety in tourism cities has not been studied. According to the results of this study, there is a significant relationship between the factors affecting tourist Wayfinding Anxiety and their cultural values, because the level of Anxiety and anxious situations in the Wayfinding of Azeri and Mazani tourists and even the type of strategies used by them after feeling anxious have been completely different. These differences are the result of the behavioral characteristics and cultural values of each of the Azeri and Mazani subcultures, which are described in the findings section. This explanation explains the relationship and impact of cultural values of tourists of each subculture on their Wayfinding behavior.

This study investigates Wayfinding in complex office environments. Many works of research have investigated the subject since the 1970s. Examining the available research literature showed that a precise and comprehensive classification of influencing factors on Wayfinding that could be used to develop design guidelines for office buildings is currently absent. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the effects of environmental factors, specifically physical factors relating to behavioral scenarios in office buildings. For this, through a qualitative research, the effects of path openness, connection type, path width, and intersection angles and shapes of isovists were evaluated in office environments. Visual accessibility was assessed based on the concept of the field of view and Wayfinding behavior analysis. The study had nine participants )men and women( walk through a predetermined path in the municipality of Karaj. Data was collected and analyzed through questionnaires, interviews, observation, and field-of-view analysis. The results showed that Wayfinding is directly affected by visual accessibility in office environments, i. e., the higher the overlap of viewsheds, the faster people could find their destination and fewer failings in Wayfinding. Moreover, the study illustrated that people frequently choose paths that provide wider visual fields and more environmental information at intersections. These results suggest rethinking design considerations for office buildings.

Familiarity with the destination environment plays an important role in tourism, and the more frequent tourists’ visits to the area, the greater their knowledge of the environment and, consequently, the easier for them to navigate around the place. Those unfamiliar with the environment should make sure that there are sufficient Wayfinding aids, and that it will be clear for them how to reach their target sights by following the aids without getting lost. Use of various Wayfinding tools can allow visitors to realize the overall spatial layout of the environment and the relationships between them. It is dependent on the user’ s characteristics what types of tools are utilized in Wayfinding. If tourists are confused at a part of a destination about how to find their way, they will lose incentives to visit it. The easier for tourists to identify the ways to their target sights in the environment, the more attractive the place to them, motivating them to be there in the environment. This study aimed to identify tourists’ specific Wayfinding tools in the Paeen Khiaban neighborhood in the city of Mashhad, Iran. Tourists could have different levels of familiarity with the destination addressed in the case study, which could be categorized as an applied survey. The data were collected through field observations, questionnaires, and site visits. The sample size appropriate for a population of 359 people was calculated using Cochran’ s formula. The statistical analyses were made using methods including one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), dependent t-test, and the K2 test, used to prioritize the variables, and the significance levels of the indicators were analyzed using Duncan’ s test. The results demonstrated that tourists more familiar with the destination used spatial orientation and representation, whereas those who were less familiar with the environment utilized the landmark strategy through recognition of the elements and identification of the location for Wayfinding via points. The former group identified their direction through coordinates in a more general situation, while the latter group identified landmark points and followed them to the target place in smaller areas and through the points and the connections between the landmark and the situation. The tourists were interested in using visual guidelines for Wayfinding, analyzing, learning, encoding, and processing them in their minds, and then selected the optimal route. Familiarity was effective in the selection of the type of Wayfinding strategy and the use of a variety of Wayfinding guidelines. Furthermore, the tourists considered the attractions in their choice of destinations, the walls and familiarity with the environment were the next most significant factors, and the signs and patterns on the route were also effective in the selection. The signs were very important to the tourists because the number of signs, locations, distances, designs, fonts and backgrounds, sizes, and heights affected readability. The guidelines and distinctive signs or visual cues at decision points along routes can help improve Wayfinding.

People use Wayfinding strategies every day. However, they are not aware of the importance of infrastructure helping them to arrive. Wayfinding process involves a series of decisions made by those who are moving in the environment. These decisions are guided by architecture criteria and the elements of space design as well as the signs. All of these factors lead to the conclusion that it is important for people to successfully navigate their way in public buildings and other places. This is because it increases productivity, ease of access, and personal health on the one hand and decreases failure in navigate selection, stress, worry, delay in arrival, and the time spent on the way on the other hand. For navigating in architectural spaces, people use strategies to guide them in the space and help them get to their destinations in the building. The information highlights the importance of this research study: 1. Designing interior spaces to facilitate Wayfinding in architecture is a very complex responsibility the basic processes of which are not fully clear yet. 2. Today, due to the lack of a way to design interior spaces which facilitates Wayfinding, architecture is greatly dependent on architects. As a result, what is being built today is strongly influenced by fashion and imposed taste. 3. The majority of architects do not care about Wayfinding, because they believe it prevents elegant design of space. They think Wayfinding problems should be tackled by installing signs on important points. Achieving the ease of Wayfinding in the interior space is a factor that increases readability. This seemingly simple activity provides a serious challenge to architecture design. It is because Wayfinding for users of interior space is purposeful and directional behavior. It is a dynamic movement from place of origin to destination and includes the interaction between user and the environment. It is not directly perceived by users and in some cases leads to failure, frustration, or being lost. The interaction between the operator and the environment is studied as a Wayfinding strategy with a conceptual structure and is used by people to find their purpose. Considering the fact that this science is new in Iran, the aim of the present paper is to achieve Wayfinding strategies. The present study aims at selecting a case which is public and can be used by all users (and not just a special group of them) and can be permanently used by all people freely (not just at a specific period of time). On the other hand, readability depends on two main variables: 1) The complexity of spatial layout and 2) Prominence and importance of the signs). Complexity of spatial layout occurs in two dimensions and importance of signs occurs in three dimensions. As a result, the case (the National Library of Iran) was selected with an emphasis on these two principles in two stages; the first step: choosing a building among cultural buildings with different cultural functions (cultural center, museum, library, exhibition, and research center) through interviewing professional architects, and the second stage: the final selection of the case with the help of application of space syntax software (Depthmap). Considering the two stages, readability in the National Library of Iran is extremely low compared to other cases. Qualitative research method was used in this article based on knowledge of the environment and observation of behavior-environmental data of individuals. In the present study, in addition to field notes, video footage and audio recordings of individuals during navigating were used by a video camera as a tool to obtain the required information. Obtaining the data during Wayfinding emphasizes on interior architecture. As a result, users use the strategies of reference framework, direct, systematic search, and identification of the destination and route, in chronological order in order to experience the highest number of cases of getting lost to the lowest number. Then, the main points of the interior space were obtained through the process of achieving Wayfinding strategies to be used by users to facilitate Wayfinding. In strategy of reference framework, users find their position as far as possible with the help of familiar parts of the building such as stairs, elevators, and the point of entry and entrance hall. In direct navigating strategy, straight lines are considered in internal space, which can be matched with the element of edge. In accordance with the definition of a systematic search strategy and design principles, spaces with the same application should be in one area. This increases spatial knowledge of user. With the help of these strategies and discovering what is important to people while navigating, we can obtain the principles of architectural design that increase readability and prevent the confusion of users in complex spaces.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a developing technology that has revolutionized the communication of users and data in various fields with a diverse range of applications. For its dynamic user interactivity, AR has been attended to in Environmental Graphic Design, espicially in airport terminals. These terminals are comprehensively convoluted spaces representing a high range of facilities and services,therefore, implementing such technologies for understanding the environment and improving service quality for users and passengers is important. In this respect, the main objective is to explain the role of AR in Terminal Airports’,Wayfinding Graphic Design. This is a qualitative research and has a descriptive-analytical method. It introduces the airports where AR is applied, while analyzing AR functions in Gatwick in London and Copenhagen airports. The collected data is taken from published and written documents and online libraries. In some cases, the primary data stream is provided by directly corresponding with under-study airports’,administrations. The results demonstrate expeditious and facilitated Wayfinding rate, improved user perception of the space, better service delivery, reduced Anxiety, and increased user interaction with the environment where AR could be applied.

The use of urban routes by tourists is an integral part of tourism in urban spaces, and tourists use urban routes to reach their desired destinations. Confusion in Wayfinding causes unpleasant feelings and facilitates Wayfinding, providing tourist satisfaction and repeat visits. Despite importance of issues related to tourists' behavior in urban spaces, there is a lack of research that examines all factors affecting tourists' Wayfinding behavior in tourist cities and provides a comprehensive understanding of Wayfinding of tourism. Therefore, current research has its main mission and goal in contributing to body of knowledge in field of studies of tourists' Wayfinding behavior and identifying all factors affecting this behavior in urban space for fill this research gap and planning and designing an efficient Wayfinding system, according to the tourists' Wayfinding behavior. This research is fundamental in terms of its purpose and seeks to answer the question, what are factors affecting Wayfinding behavior of urban tourists? To answer research question, meta-synthesis method and seven-step model of Sandelowski and Barroso (2007) have been used. The target texts were coded in Maxqda 10. According to obtained results, tourism Wayfinding is a complex activity due to limited familiarity of tourists with environment and different perception and depends on many factors. Facilitating tourist Wayfinding requires attention to 5 main categories of travel factors, tourist characteristics, perceptual factors, environmental factors and guide tools. Findings of this research can be used to understand Wayfinding behavior of tourists and improve Wayfinding environment and travel experience and satisfaction of tourists.

In the hospital environment, the complexity of the building configuration causes Wayfinding difficulties for hospital users. This results in s tress, Anxiety, discomfort, loss of time, and missed appointments. This research es tablishes the critical factors that influence the ease of Wayfinding in a hospital environment with consideration for the design sys tems. The s tudy was carried out at Jos University Teaching Hospital, Plateau S tate, Nigeria. Also, a descriptive research design was employed with a survey ques tionnaire for data collection, adminis tered on outpatients on a sample size of 96 respondents (48 males and 48 females), using a simple random sampling technique. Findings from factor analysis and multiple regressions showed that some factors have a high influence on the ease of Wayfinding in the hospital environment concerning their loadings at significance value. These factors include landmarks, crowdedness in the circulation spaces, circulation intersection (nodes), and visual access. The s tudy recommends that local landmarks should be designed to be visible from a dis tance at decisionmaking points in the hospital during Wayfinding. Furthermore, circulation intersections (nodes or junctions) should be dis tinctive with directional signs and should have visible cues to reduce Wayfinding errors at such decision points. This implies that spatial and visual factors should be considered in hospital Wayfinding designs.