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From page 40... ... 40 5.1 Introduction Although the PA system design and acoustical environment may be optimally designed, the human factor ultimately determines whether a PA announcement is heard, understood, and acted on. This chapter considers what human factors may influence attention, perception, and effective listening to PA announcements. Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... human Factors affecting pa System Intelligibility 41 to "tune out" the PA messages -- for example, frequently using headphones to isolate themselves from exterior messages. This behavior changed in the gate area, where they actively listened for information directly relevant to their journeys -- for example, listening for when their allocated seat row or boarding group could board the plane. Read the entire page →
From page 42... ... 42 Improving Intelligibility of airport terminal public address Systems feelings and actions in that moment. The subconscious awareness of messages is completely separate from a conscious decision made by a passenger concerning which messages to "choose" to pay attention to. Read the entire page →
From page 43... ... human Factors affecting pa System Intelligibility 43 to the trip. Cultural background, gender, age, and language skills may mediate how passengers deal with stress during traveling. Read the entire page →
From page 44... ... 44 Improving Intelligibility of airport terminal public address Systems Limited Attention Research suggests that the passenger's level of attention always affects whether announcements are processed and acted on or not. For example, a passenger with a long transfer time or a delay may simply "switch off" and fail to process any auditory messages (Umera-Okeke 2008) Read the entire page →
From page 45... ... human Factors affecting pa System Intelligibility 45 5.3.2 Repetition Repeat key identifying information within a single message. Although passengers' attention may be drawn by initial recognition of a key name or phrase, travellers may not immediately process or understand the initial stimulus that has drawn their attention. Read the entire page →
From page 46... ... 46 Improving Intelligibility of airport terminal public address Systems In fact, if a word were extracted from a sentence of conversational speech, it might not be as easily recognized as it would be when heard in isolation. PA announcements given in the gate areas are frequently rushed and presented in a conversational rather than a "clear speech" style, making differentiation among words difficult (Payton, Uchanski and Braida 1994) Read the entire page →
From page 47... ... human Factors affecting pa System Intelligibility 47 what they needed to do, and so, although male voices are now sometimes used for systems such as ground proximity warnings and traffic collision avoidance, female voices dominate the realm of aircraft warning systems. The early studies documented greater physical response markers (such as heart rate) Read the entire page →
From page 48... ... 48 Improving Intelligibility of airport terminal public address Systems announcements so that the announcements can be heard, processed, and understood. However, if both systems use different loudspeakers, then it may be difficult to integrate the two systems. Read the entire page →
From page 49... ... human Factors affecting pa System Intelligibility 49 Where cuing tones are used • Use short familiar tones • Associate tones to specific types of announcements • For gate areas in close proximity, do not overlap messages -- especially not messages with tones • Precede all emergency messages with a meaningful alarm sound or tone • Combine alarms/tones with voice instructions 5.6 Passenger Journey Maps and Passenger Information Needs A passenger journey map is used to describe a passenger's experience of traveling through an airport (journey) , with key locations in the journey identified as touchpoints. Read the entire page →
From page 50... ... Figure 5-3. User journey map -- family. Read the entire page →
From page 51... ... Figure 5-4. User journey map -- high tech business traveler. Read the entire page →
From page 52... ... CURBSIDE PASSENGER GOALS AIRPORT INFORMATION SOURCES PA system Staﬀ verbal communications Flight information display Customer service kiosk Signs Phone-airline app/text HIGH MEDIUM LOW PASSENGER PERSPECTIVE PASSENGER ATTENTION TO PA ANNOUNCEMENTS INSIGHTS • Find correct terminal and entrance. • Follow security procedure • Passenger focuses on security process. Read the entire page →
From page 53... ... human Factors affecting pa System Intelligibility 53 with hearing impairment also have challenges processing consonant sounds. Consonant intensity increases as part of clear speech and so clear speech could be seen to benefit older listeners (and listeners with hearing impairments) Read the entire page →
From page 54... ... 54 Improving Intelligibility of airport terminal public address Systems interviewed in airports do not report seeking flight information from PA messages in the check-in area or in the security screening area. Once through security, an increasing number of passengers use smartphone apps and/or text updates from their airlines for flight information; these passengers state that they feel comfortable that they will be informed via these channels should there be any update, delay, or gate change. Read the entire page →

From page 40...

... 40 5.1 Introduction Although the PA system design and acoustical environment may be optimally designed, the human factor ultimately determines whether a PA announcement is heard, understood, and acted on. This chapter considers what human factors may influence attention, perception, and effective listening to PA announcements.