Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
One of the research goals of contemporary cartography is the investigation of perception
processing of maps, not only from the commercial point of view, but also in planning, crisis
management and rescue operations.
On the one hand, map is very important carrier of information that readers need to
assimilate as quickly as possible and undistorted, so cartographers labour for its highest
possible accuracy. On the other hand map design and its visual appearance are
determinants of user popularity.
In both cases, the key to success is to answer a number of highly debated issues - for
example how readers follow the information in the map, in which order and how fast they
read the information, which compositional elements they read earliest, how many times
they look back to the map legend, which map elements are easy and which difficult to
handle, what affects the legibility of the map, etc. These findings can facilitate to evaluate
the quality of the map composition, symbology and map content, and thus define the
methodology for creating maps that will correspond with requirements of users.
With respect to the investigatory device, maps evaluation using eye-tracking technology is
available both for analog maps and the digital cartographic outputs.
One of the first publications focused on the application of eye-tracking methods in
cartography is Eye Movement Studies in Cartography and Related Fields [29], in which the
author summarizes the results of various studies in the late 80's of the 20 th century. It deals
with the general knowledge of tracking of the human eye, studies on evaluation of specific
graphic outputs, emphasizing the impossibility to generalize the findings in the behalf of
dissimilar studies. He described several universal conclusions and highlighted the
importance of distinguishing between user groups according to their age and education.
It is possible to separate the evaluation of information content of maps from the map design.
However complex evaluation is more logical, because the information value of maps (e. g.
content) can be increased or degraded by technical or artistic design.
An example of a complex evaluation of maps was presented by Alacam and Dalci [11], who
compared four map portals (Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, Live Search Maps and MapQuest).
Results of eye-tracking experiment revealed considerable variance in the strategy of solving
particular quest in different map portals environment. Basic assumption of this study was
that the lower the average duration of fixation, the more intuitive the environment. It was
found, that users average fixation duration at the Google Map stimuli is statistically
significantly lower, than in the case of other evaluated portals.
Coltekin et al. [31] in their research deal with the evaluation of user interface of cartographic
software. Test subjects were ask to create a complex map in two different map applications.
The study was designed as a between-subject experiment and eye movement analysis was
coupled with traditional usability metrics to identify possible design issues. Initial analyses
included statistical tests for satisfaction, effectiveness (accuracy of response), and efficiency
(response speed).
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