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User-Centred and Participatory Cartography
Muki [email protected]
@mhaklay
Extreme Citizen Science group
Department of Civil, Environment and Geomatic Engineering, UCL
Geographic representations
http://www.phil.uni-passau.de/histhw/tutcarto/english/index-hiwi-karto-en.html http://hyperbolic-crochet.blogspot.com/2010/09/talking-and-writing-about-math.html
Sailing maps/Navigation charts, Western Pacific
(Peabody Museum, Cambridge)
Valcamonica, Italy. Neolithic
Bronze age (6000 BCE)
Carved wooden coastal charts carried in
their kayaks by Greenland Inuit (n.d.)
Greenland National Museum & Archives.
http://www.learner.org/courses/amerhistory/interactives/cartographic/1-2.html
• Representations of geography predate the development of writing by at least 2000 years (some argue by 20,000)
• Moreover, they exist in non-literate societies, and semi-literate people routinely participate in mapping activities
Modern digital mapping • Only few digital technologies failures
require physical intervention
User-centred & participatory cartographies
• Why so difficult? What can we do about
it?
• The evolution & popularisation of usable
geographic technologies
• Participatory & collaborative mapping,
Citizen Science and usability engineering
Usability engineering
Usability engineering is the outcome from
Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive,
& Behavioural research. Devising
practical methods to measure a system’s
usability in terms of its: Learnability;
Efficiency; Memorability; Error rate; User
satisfaction …
UE/UX
Do you feel safe?
CHAPTER 1: WHY SO DIFFICULT?
In which we tell the story of how GIS developers focus so much on functionality, that they forgot the user
Pivar, M., Fredkin, E., and Stommel, H., 1963. Computer-Compiled Oceanographic Atlas: An Experiment in Man-Machine Interaction, PNAS
1963
Visions of interactivity• ‘[I]n preparing a printed atlas certain irrevocable choices of scale, of
map projections … must be made from the vast infinitude of all
possible mappings. An atlas-like representation, generated by digital
computer and displayed upon a cathode-ray screen, enables the
oceanographer to modify these choices at will. Only a high-speed
computer has the capacity and speed to follow the quickly shifting
demands and questions of a human mind exploring a large field
of numbers. … The user will be able to interrogate the display to evoke
further information; it will help him track down errors and will offer
alternative forms of presentation. Thus, the display on the screen …
embodies animation as varying presentations are scanned. In a very real
sense, the user “converses” with the machine about the stored
data.’ (Pivar et al., 1963, p. 396)
Source: Nick Chrisman
1963
What was it like?
• ‘Absolutely terrible. I mean there
wasn’t a left-handed, barbarous,
mentally deficient technician who
couldn’t do better than the best
computer. Terrifying.’
Ian McHarg (1920-2001) in an
interview to GIS World, 1995
http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0300/0300gaz4.html
GIS road to the mainstream
• 1980s – commercial GIS packages starting
to emerge, range of users grows
• 1990s – Desktop GIS – more application
and use
• 2000s – GIS on the web, but not just GIS –
SatNavs, ubiquitous computing
• 2010s – crowdsourcing, mobile services
Why are GIS hard to use?
2005
Haklay and Zafiri (2008) “Usability Engineering for GIS: Learning from a Screenshot.” The Cartographic Journal, 45(2)
UE/UX
Why are GIS hard to use?
• As Identified by Traynor and Williams (1995):– GIS is complex: it is based on knowledge from
Geography, Cartography, Databases, Statistics, Computer algorithms and data structures…
– Requires users to have or acquire considerable technical knowledge in order to operate the system
• Due to the technological challenges, developers and vendors are focusing on functionality and not on interaction
Traynor and Williams (1995) ‘Why are Geographic Information Systems hard to use?’
UE/UX
Web mapping
• Xerox PARC Map
Viewer 1993 -2005
• Demonstration of
the multimedia
capabilities of the
Web
Source: Tsue 2007
1993
1998
Paper vs. computer
Tasks Paper map Online map
1. Localisation 47.35 (38.26) 121.35 (71.31)
2. Measurement/scale 44.75 (17.18) 69.95 (71.98)
3. Decode on map 49.50 (23.52) 15.00 (67.08)
4. Decode on legend 17.25 (9.64) 11.75 (38.94)
5. Route planning 286.05 (113.07) 388.85 (210.83)
2011
UE/UX
Why difficult?
• Complex technology to implement
• Complex technology to master
• Lack of attention from vendors and
developers
• Combined with misunderstanding of
usability
CHAPTER 2: COGNITIVE SURPLUS, COLLABORATIVE & PARTICIPATORY MAPPING
In which we see how the people who are using cartographic products and geographic technologies changed without us noticing
1st May 2000 – GPS selective availability
• ‘In plain English, we are unscrambling the GPS
signal. It is rare that someone can press a button
and make something you already own more
valuable – but that’s exactly what’s happening
today. All the people who’ve bought a GPS
receiver for a boat or a car... will find that they are
ten times more accurate as of midnight tonight.’
Dr Neal Lane, Assistant to the President for
Science and Technology.
http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OSTP/html/0053_3.html
Web availability and interaction
(CC) Ell Brown (Flickr)
Increased level of education
95 99 107 116 124 132 138 146 154 159 165
1
10
100
1000
10000
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
World population and students in tertiary education, World Bank data
Tertiary Ed World Population
Understanding scientific concepts
© Cambridge University Press© Nimalan Tharmalingam (sxc.hu)
© Sanja Gjenero (sxc.hu)
2005
2005
2008
Ellul, C., Haklay, M. Francis, L. And Rahemtulla, H., 2009, A Mechanism to Create Community Maps for Non-Technical users, The
International Conference on Advanced Geographic Information Systems & Web Services – GEOWS 2009
2009
http://publiclaboratory.org
2013
2013
2008
VGI and usability
Google My Maps – guiding users
in the process of capturing
geographic information
2008
OpenStreetMap2014
“..not sure if I am missing the
obvious Zoom and Pan
functions…Aaaghhh there they are,
small and hidden”
[P10, 31:40].
Catherine E. Jones, Patrick Weber, 2012, Towards Usability Engineering for Online Editors of Volunteered Geographic
Information: A Perspective on Learnability, Transaction in GIS
UE/UX
Map Kibera 2010
20062013
Citizen science
• Scientific activities in
which non-professional
scientists volunteer to
participate in data
collection, analysis and
dissemination of a
scientific project.
iSpot
Mapping for Change
Download WideNoise at http://cs.everyaware.eu
June 2012
June 2012
July 2012
July 2012
August 2012
August 2012
October 2012October2012
‘Cambrian explosion’
• Web + societal changes are changing
creation and consumption of geographic
information
• New cartographic needs as a result of
location based services
• Bottom-up, localised, niche projects as
the norm, learning by osmosis
• Potential for large scale collaboration
• UE & UX impact success
CHAPTER 3: NEW CHALLENGES
In which we consider where the next challenges lie
Forest monitoring
Jerome Lewis, ExCiteS
Source: cybertracker
1996
Jerome Lewis, ExCiteS
2007
Lewis et al. (2007). “Logging in the Congo Basin: What hope for indigenous peoples’ resources and their environments?”.
In: Indigenous Affairs 4/06, pp. 8–15.
Lewis et al. (2012). “Accessible technologies and FPIC: independent monitoring with forest communities in Cameroon”.
In: Biodiversity and culture: exploring community protocols, rights and consent (PLA 65), pp. 151–165.
2013
Control flow
&
hierarchical
navigation
Go back
(cancel last step)
Go forward
(skip)
Yes, there is a pharmacy
(and it is in operation).
No, there is no pharmacy
(or it is not in operation).
Yes/No,
satisfaction/dissatisfaction
Media capturing devices
Undamaged
banana tree
Damaged banana tree,
or inaccessible field, …
Damage, destruction, obstruction,
…
OK
(save & return
to beginning)
Cancel
(discard & return
to beginning)
Audio recording Photo Video recording?
Categorical
use
Metaphorical
use
Literal
use
Cacao means
cacao
(and just that).
1 – later 3 – example(s)
represent any wild fruits.
2 examples of nuts
represent any nut (tree).
The syringe
means any
medicinal plant.
68
69
Visualise change over time
Summary • Usability engineering requires
compromises: not what ought to be, but
how things work (e.g. conforming with
Google Maps)
• Potential of using geographical
technologies for all – though making
them participatory require effort and
careful methodological design
• Cartography is critical to many of the
applications and challenges ahead.
Further information
• See ucl.ac.uk/excites
• Blog: povesham.wordpress.com
uclexcites.wordpress.com
• [email protected] / @mhaklay
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