Nori and colleagues probed how design can promote effective wayfinding via a virtual reality-based project. They report that their “results suggest that navigation could be facilitated by reducing anxiety and the spatial complexity of the environment. . . . Spatial anxiety is particularly important for navigation and reflects feelings of apprehension and fear regarding navigating an environment, orienting oneself, and performing spatial tasks.” Centrally located you-are-here maps, for example, might reduce spatial anxiety.
Raffaella Nori, Micaela Zucchelli, Massimiliano Palmiero, and Laura Piccardi. “Environmental Cognitive Load and Spatial Anxiety: What Matters in Navigation?” Journal of Environmental Psychology, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102032