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The 3 keys to making online GIS friendly & intuitive for a public audience

Joy Bonaguro, Interface Designer/Research Analyst

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http://www.gnocdc.org/mapping

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Why is it so hard for public audiences to use online mapping

interfaces?

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In this presentation…

• Introduction

• 3 concepts from Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

• Applying an HCI framework to online mapping functions

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Philosophy of the Data Center

• Design systems that are easy to use.

• Inventory designs that best meet the skills of our audience.

• Test the designs using usability testing.

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3 concepts from Human-Computer Interaction

• Visibility

• Affordance

• Feedback

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Visibility is how clear the relationship between an action and its effects are to the user.

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Affordance is when the features of an object allow the user to infer how to use it.

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Feedback is the response a system gives that informs a user whether the action they took actually worked.

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Applying HCI concepts to online mapping functions

•Zoom•Pan•Identify•Layer activation/deactivation

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Navigating the map: Zoom

magnifies or reduces scale

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Navigating the map: Pan

shifts map view without modifying the scale

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Pan bars

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Interacting with the map: Identify

Provides additional information about a specific location or geography on the map

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Interacting with the map: layer activation & deactivation

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http://www.gnocdc.org/mapping

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