Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
1- Introduction
In the last decade, mainly because of the Internet, cartography and geo-
graphic information reached a new popularity level, which considerably
increases the “interactivity problem” of geospatial data communication.
With interaction more and more present in people's lives, the “old” maps
are being replaced by complex visual displays and users interact directly
with data, using previously prepared usable interfaces. Facing the chal-
lenge of almost real-time information flow , paper maps, now also called
traditional maps, are still being used. These old-fashioned static means of
representing world geographic phenomena by graphics are respected by
people, who seem to consider them as documents free from errors and that
express the truth about the world.
However, there are many specific factors that can be decisive in the effec-
tiveness of map communication. These are related not only to a user's
characteristics and personal experiences but with the nature of the task
being executed with the help of maps. Interaction science foundations can
provide several aspects of interest, for example the influence of gender
studies, cultural factors, communication theories, power relations, cognitive
experimentation and semiotics, for the technology and society relation-
ships. The measurement of what users prefer is an old concern, and has its
place in interaction design studies. It is important to remember that nowa-
days these users can be organized employing a great diversity of personal
characteristics and experiences, which presume that there are appropria-
tions not yet imagined for the final products. The “intuition” variable can
be explained by all of the previously cited aspects of interest for inter-
action studies, including reasons for this or that choice and the con-
sequences of it, but one can argue that this variable study lacked systematic
validation procedures, such as matching user's intuition of what is better
and what is proved to be better to accomplish some specific task. This kind
of belief is what MacEachren (1995) termed as connotation of maps, and
besides its intuitive characteristic, it clearly plays a very important role in
the way meaning is derived from map symbology.
The success of cartographic products depends on a well-achieved combi-
nation of meeting what users need, what users want - including what
would make its usage an enjoyable experience - and their capabilities.
Research in this area can lead map design principles to encompass attractive-
ness as an important factor related to performance. Besides, to know what
visual variables used in mapping techniques are believed to be more efficient
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