In today's society, the independent mobility of older adults is crucial for their participation in social activities and overall well-being. However, existing pedestrian navigation systems primarily optimize for distance or time, often overlooking barriers, safety thresholds, and supportive infrastructure that influence walking decisions in later life.
We present a senior-friendly pedestrian routing artifact developed through echeloned Design Science Research, translating lived mobility constraints into prescriptive design knowledge. Based on 11 semi-structured interviews, we derive initial Design Requirements (DRs) and Design Principles (DPs) for barrier-aware, amenity-sensitive routing and execution-relevant explanations.
These are instantiated in an OpenStreetMap pedestrian network enriched with amenities (benches, toilets, and shelters) and height data, and we implemented an A*-based routing engine with configurable costs and explanation payloads.
In a field-based walking study, 14 older adults compared artifact-generated routes with baselines and provided ratings and qualitative feedback; the senior-friendly route was preferred overall. Thematic analysis further showed that infrastructure maintenance, seasonal conditions, traffic exposure, and social context shape route acceptance.
We synthesize these insights into refined DRs and DPs emphasizing context-aware hazard modeling, multi-route transparency, landmark-grounded explanations, social-context sensitivity, and stage-appropriate information. Our contributions provide actionable guidance for practitioners developing senior-friendly pedestrian navigation systems.
Blogger's Review: This paper emphasizes the importance of considering the unique needs of older adults in pedestrian navigation system design, particularly regarding safety and convenience. By combining real interviews with data models, it offers actionable design principles that merit further exploration and implementation in future related research and applications.