Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Understanding the Influence of specific Web GIS
Attributes in the Formation of non-experts' Trust
Perceptions
Artemis Skarlatidou
1
, Jessica Wardlaw
1
, Muki Haklay
2
and Tao Cheng
2
1
Department of Computer Science, University College London
Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT UK, UK
2
Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London
Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT UK, UK
a.skarlatidou@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract
The Web has facilitated wider access to spatial information and allowed
non-experts to view, use, access and build maps using Web GIS technology.
There is a significant number of Web GIS applications which are open
to the wider public including people without any GIS knowledge. The
complexity of Web GIS interfaces, the risk and uncertainty they incorpo-
rate and the limited knowledge of non-experts in spatial data handling and
GIS operations influence the perceived trustworthiness of these systems.
Previous scholars, such as Monmonier (1996) recognised the importance
of trust in map design, however there has been no research into how trust
can be improved for Web GIS applications. Three studies were conducted
in order to investigate what elements influence non-experts' trust percep-
tions and how specific Web GIS trustee attributes should be designed in
order to improve trust. The results not only demonstrate the importance of
further trust research in the Web GIS context, but also show that trust can
be improved through interface design, which is an ethical need in order to
support non-experts' trust assessments.
1- Introduction
It has been almost twenty years since the introduction of the Web, which
contributed to the democratisation of Geographical Information Systems
