Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
ramps are based on the values of all stimuli for both components. For every
stimulus the levels of intensity and their positions are compared for the two formats.
In general, a similar pattern is noticed on every stimulus independent of the medium
and the metric that is visualised. This (fixation) pattern reflects the general map
structure and its similarity indicates a similar search behaviour for the users
'
regardless of the medium. This general structure can be seen as a reference frame
that the map users need to study (and structure) the map
s content. It consists
mainly out of map objects with linear structures, such as roads and rivers (Ooms
et al.
2014
). Furthermore, the cluster of grid cells with the highest level of intensity
generally corresponds to the locations of the labels that the users have to look for
(Fig.
1a
). This can be explained by the higher level of interest in those areas, which
is a result of the task the user had to execute. Because each user has to focus on the
given labels a longer dwell time is registered on their locations. Besides the
locations with the longest dwell times, the overall hue of the gridded visualisations
can be compared. But there is no medium which has consistently a darker back-
ground then the other medium.
The results of the statistical test and the gridded visualisations of the fixation
durations and the gridded visualisations of the fixation counts do not confirm the
outcomes of the statistical test of the fixation count. In this case, no unidirectional
conclusions can be drawn. So, the lower resolution of the screen where the digital
maps are depicted on does not seem to have an influence on the user
'
s attentive
'
behaviour. This is mainly guided by the map
s content and the task at hand. These
findings are in correspondence with previous research on the user
'
s attentive
'
behaviour on (digital) maps (Hegarty et al.
2010
; Ooms et al.
2014
).
Conclusion and Future Work
In contrast to previous research, the users
attentive behaviour is studied
when searching on a digital and a paper map. To investigate the influence
of (only) the medium, a controlled study design was used. The obtained
results indicate that the users could interpret the content of the digital map
somewhat more efficiently, but this did not result in an overall more efficient
task execution. The distribution of the users
'
attentive behaviour was similar
on both media, but the results indicate a difference in the length of the
saccades: the distance between subsequent fixations was shorter on the digital
medium.
However, because the study was executed in a controlled set-up, the
results are restricted and may not reflect real-life situations. Typically, digital
maps are presented on smaller screens than paper maps, where the user has
tools to zoom and pan on the map. Furthermore, participants should be
allowed to adjust the contrast, brightness and/or sharpness of the screen
which could also influence user performance in the real-life situations. There-
fore, further research is necessary in this line of work, taking into account the
'
(continued)
