Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
et al.
2012
,
2014
; Popelka and Brychtova
2013
). These studies focus on digital
cartographic products, possibly with animations ( ¸¨ ltekin et al.
2009
,
2010
), or
navigation tasks (Kiefer et al.
2014
). This renewed interest is closely linked to the
recent need to gain better understanding of the cognitive processes (and limits) of
map users while working with highly dynamic, interactive, animated screen maps
(Cartwright
2012
; Fabrikant and Lobben
2009
; Montello
2009
).
Hegarty et al. (
2010
), for example, studied expert and novice map users
eye
movements while executing a task on (digital) weather maps. They discovered that
eye movements were mainly guided by top-down factors and that a good design
facilitated the processing of task relevant visual features. Ooms et al. (
2014
) found
that both expert and novice users tend to focus their attention on a reference frame
in the map image (main structuring elements) in order to store the map content in
memory.
Previous research using eye tracking used paper or digital stimuli. However, up
till now both media have not been combined and compared in a single user study.
The aim of this research is to investigate whether the attentive behaviour is different
when the same content (topographic map) is presented on paper or on a screen (with
the same dimensions), in a controlled environment. Therefore, the users
'
attentive
behaviour will be analysed and compared in a controlled environment, by register-
ing the participants
'
eye movements on both digital and paper stimuli. The research
question is as follows: Can users find labels more efficiently on a paper map
compared to the digital medium? More details and justifications regarding the
study design (participants, stimuli, task, etc.) are described in the next section.
'
Study Design
Participants
In total, 32 participants took part in the user study. All participants were students
(M.Sc.) or researchers of the Department of Geography (Ghent University). This
group was selected to ensure that all participants would have similar domain
knowledge in geography and cartography. They are familiar with the design of
the Belgian topographic maps (see section “Stimuli”) and have experience in the
use of both digital and paper maps. In a post-study questionnaire, these character-
istics were also verified. These participants were divided into two groups, each with
similar user characteristics. This grouping operation is necessary to avoid that a
participant would see the same regions twice (once on screen and once on paper)
which would distort the measurements due to a learning effect. The participants
received a code that corresponded to the order in which they participated. Partic-
ipants with an odd code number belong to the first group and participants with an
even code number belong to the second group.
