Public opinions on wayfinding challenges in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's multilevel pedestrian networks require travellers to navigate connections between buildings and floors. This makes wayfinding more complex and difficult. Evidence remains limited on which places and spatial situations are associated with getting lost, and on how spatial conditions, navigation information and personal characteristics explain these difficulties. We examined 3,646 Google Maps reviews and Xiaohongshu and Weibo posts through text mining, and used 40 questionnaire responses to explore the reported problems further. Google Maps reviews described confusing shopping-centre layouts and routes between floors. Xiaohongshu and Weibo posts described unclear exits and difficulty following routes between stations, malls and footbridges, including at familiar places. In the questionnaire, moving between buildings was the most reported difficulty (21 of 40 respondents), especially in shopping centres; street difficulties mainly involved junction choices. Difficulty between buildings occurred among respondents with both lower and higher direction-sense ratings and during repeat visits. Of the 31 respondents who used maps or navigation on their phones during the experience they described, nine could not find the correct entrance even when navigation showed they had arrived. These findings highlight persistent wayfinding challenges in complex three-dimensional environments despite navigation support, and the need for better design of connections between levels.