Universal Halloween Horror Nights Map

Link to Map (image originally removed by Jesse)

Layering: 

By using layering, the map groups all the attractions on both sides and a legend on the bottom, while keeping the main focus of the map in the middle. Layering allows multiple groups of information interact with each other without confusing the map reader.

Color:

By using color to highlight key areas of the map, it allows the reader to easily locate certain aspects on the map clearly. It also helps keep different types of information from blending in together. With the use of colors, the users can easily identify the type of attraction they are looking at quickly.

Iconic Representation:

By using icons to represent certain features of the park, the map can cram more information in the limited space provided. Icons along with a legend on the bottom can help users recognize where certain amenities are located around the park. With easy to recognize icons such as the bathroom, first aid, or handicap access, the map can indicate multiple complex amenities in limited space

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Legibility:

With all the complex details on the map, legibility is very important. With the use of larger colored fonts, and color icons next to a black and white background, the information is clearly labeled and legible.

Pictures Superiority Effect:

By using pictures to identify the surroundings, it helps the users easily recognize where they are on the map. By illustrating the buildings and rides, it helps people easily identify where they are located just by looking around.

I collect maps as souvenirs. Hence, I have maps from all places I have visited so far. This one is from Denali National Park, Alaska. One of the most beautiful places in this country.

Strategies employed :

1.Iconic Representation

The map uses icons to represent airstrips, picnic areas, campgrounds, ranger stations. It also uses different kinds of lines to represent unpaved road, primitive road and trails.

2. Color

Color is used effectively to represent Ice and snow, sparse vegetation, Tundra region and dense forest and muskeg.

3. Orientation Sensitivity

The line that defines the National Park uses thick green vertical, horizontal or 30 degree axis lines which simplify it for the user to view it.

4, Hierarchy

Hierarchy in typography is employed. Large Italic letters are used to define a vast area, example – Alaska Range, bold and medium sized letters are used to define major areas such as Denali wilderness, National preserve, fine small print of varying sizes and weights is used for riverines, peaks, ranges, roadways etc.

5. Layering

Layering is used to group information. Eg. The point marked as Telakina River is over a sparse vegetation region and is also indicated as a campground through an icon.

The city of Copenhagen recently issued its first official map for Mandarin speakers.

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Strategies

Iconic Representation. Rather than using text labels, this map conveys the presence of recreational boating activities, scenic elements and transportation via simple images.

Legibility. The text on the map is reasonably easy to read. The sans serif typeface, negative space around words and even spacing between the letters contributes to this.

Proportion. This map is designed for use for visiting tourists. As such, destinations of potential tourist interest are visualized at much larger scale in relation to their surroundings.

Forgiveness. Copenhagen’s cityscape is dotted with several large waterways and lakes. in this map, the boundaries of the water areas are lined in two progressively darker shades of blue to clearly separate the water from the surrounding land. Particularly for color-blind users, this additional differentiating detail can help minimize confusion around the meaning of the blue/water areas.

Harmony.   The map is designed in tonally similar shades of green, blue and brown. This creates a feeling of visual harmony between the elements of green space (signified by green), water (signified by blue) and humanity/architecture (signified by brown).

 

Five forces:

I’ve chosen to use the campus where I work, and the mixed-use corridor between it’s location and the main downtown street in my town as the area of study.

Female-dominated areas: My domain includes part of a women’s college, and observed more women than men on those streets. A few blocks away, at the college where I work, I noticed certain study areas always have more women than men.

Educational: There are several churches, schools and studios in the area. I would be interested in seeing how educational activities represent a force in this area.

Events: With two colleges, the main downtown street, and an arts district within a few blocks from each other, there are certain areas that are very event heavy.

Kid-friendly: Parks, daycares and elementary schools? Age-specific events? What about the number of restaurants with kid menus or high chairs in this field? I see this as a layer on top of the events and educational.

Historic buildings: Which buildings are the oldest? Are any on historic registers?

Orange Coast College recently upgraded its 2D campus map to a 3D map, creating an interactive experience for the user. The following design features can be found visually in the new design.

Clear: Even without labels, the user can distinguish between a main road, path, buildings, and various objects. There is a good use or colors, shapes, and detail to create a logical representation of what a user expects an item to be.

Control: The layers feature allows users at any level to locate important landmarks quickly on a map, such as ATM machine, emergency phones, and places that sell food. An icon representing the landmark will appear in the actual location.

Curiosity: All the facilities are represented in great detail. Users are able to zoom very close and discover unexpected items, such as airplanes and homes. Upon further investigation, there are actual airplanes for students studying airframe and power plant degrees and partially built homes for students studying construction.  Some areas of the map that belong to the school are not labeled, it adds some mystery as users wonder why items such as boats are located there.

Red Effect: Users seeking to learn more about a location on the map are able to click on it, the location is highlighted in red giving a perception of importance. The importance is augmented as marketing videos about that location automatically appear, with a description. Users get to learn more about what takes place in that location.

Self-Similarity: The three-dimensional model of the campus is exactly proportional and similar to the actual buildings and locations. The colors, shapes and labels in the map assist users in distinguishing what each building is or what a particular area is just by looking at it.

 

This Game of Thrones map is a topography jigsaw map. It is actually a puzzle, with 3-D items to place on the map.  This map highlights figure-ground relationship, where it is clear which objects are figures, and which area is the ground, where the figures rest. The map also has showcases the IKEA effect, where you actually have to build out the map using the puzzle pieces and the figures, thus impacting user perception of the value of it. Many people have come to my house and wondered how much this puzzle is. This map also does a great job with layering information, as the cities and major areas of interests within the maps are portrayed in 3D, allowing the user to group all 3D items as cities/areas of interest. However, the map has a lot of dark green dots to illustrate forests or greenery, which does a poor job with the map’s legibility , as it is not clear to read the labels and distinguish elements such as trees on the map. This also causes the map to have a poor signal to noise ratio because the map has some information that is not so useful, and causes the design to not feel as visually beautiful because of it.

For this exercise I will be using a map near and dear to my daily life, the LA Metro Map!

Iconic Representation:  Most maps so this but I really appreciate the simplicity of the Metro Map’s iconic scheme. Station that offer connection to other lines are empty white circle. Those that do not offer connections are colored in circles.  The airport is a airplane icon and rail lines are in gray. This is where I think their iconic scheme lacks. It takes some effort to differentiate the gray bus line and the rail lines, as well the square representing bus only stops.

Legibility:  My screenshot does show this well, however the map uses a clear font face and displays text in black font. On a station map the names of each stop and city are easily read.

Ockham’s Razor: The maps design is fairly clean, there are simple representation of lines and stops. There is no complicated geographical information, like freeways or parks. The designers selected the most simple model available to display system information.

Uniform Connectedness: “Elements” such as stops are represented by ” connected uniform” lines. Some variation between stops  is created by changing the icon representing the stations, otherwise the analogy and model used are consistent. Station names are angled and directly correspond to the stop.

Wayfinding: I hope that all maps encourage wayfinding. In the Metro map you can trace from your stop to another stop. I would say that it does not do great wayfinding between different destinations, we see LAX but this map doesn’t help you understand what each stop might be close to. Though I would say that is not the function of this map.

LA LIVE 

LA Live is located in downtown Los Angeles and it has become a hub and premier destination for sports, entertainment, and living.

Picture Superiority Effect

This map accurately depicts the unique shape and size of sports landmark Staples Center as one would remember it when watching basketball, hockey, or concert events. Additionally, the tall Ritz Carlton building is memorable due to its elongated shape that is visible for anyone who has visited Downtown LA or see its skyline from the freeway. All the building on this map look close to its relative size and shape in reality.

Iconic Representation

This map uses the universal symbols usually associated in “location maps”, such as ATM, Parking, Restrooms, Elevator, etc. These icons are well established and indicate where one can find it on the map.

Consistency

The color is uniform blue throughout to illustrate that each building is considered part of LA Live. Additionally, all text is in white, albeit different font size as associated to their respective brands.

Layering

The map groups information together to indicate a building has five floors associated to it. This process of organizing information into related groups is important to show how the connect together.

Orientation Sensitivity

The indicator for streets are big white lines that give it a “pop-out effect” as it contrasts with all the blue buildings. This a very clear visual cue and makes it easier to visually process.

 

A purpose of this map is to inform a customer an entrance of parking lot when using an exhibit in a building.
A 1F and 3F are an exhibit hall, and B2, B3, and B4 are a parking lot.

To convey information, it seems five strategies use as below:

Three-Dimensional Projection: Since parking lots and exhibition halls are made up of different layers, it is more efficient to convey information in 3D than to provide it in 2D. Furthermore, it seems a 3D representation is adequate to show the vertical elevator connection between layers: the parking lot and the exhibition hall.

Proximity (Gestalt): Designed to perceive customers to efficiently distinguish between elements on the same floor and elements on the other floor.

Good Continuation (Gestalt): Designed to recognize vertically connected line-elevators as a group, even though they are displayed on each floor.

Color: Emphasized each element which has the same attribute using different colors.

Consistency: Used the same font style-size and color for elements having the same attributes: parking lot is marked with A-K, and the exhibition hall is marked with A-E

Disneyland Park Map

Aesthetic-Usability Effect Aesthetics are key at Disney, and the maps carry through the branding, using illustrative, realistic detail. This may not be a beautiful example for everyone, but for their target audience, it becomes a collectible keepsale.

Common Fate

The dots show the flow of the parade route, which become the center of many visitor’s day. It also aids visitors not interested in the parades in understanding which areas to avoid so their paths are not blocks by crowds.

Forgiveness

In the purple squares are icons representing a defibrillator, an ATM, and a pre-charged battery kiosk. The defibrillator is in the event of an emergency and to allow people with medical conditions to feel safe that the park is well-equipped. The ATM and battery kiosk are a reassurance that if you did not come completely prepared, your visit will not be hampered by the inconvenience of forgetting to get cash or your device battery getting low.

Frame a View, Don’t Merely Exhibit it

The map is made of several vignettes or views of the park that are illustrated in much finer detail that other elements and attractions. The vignette pictured above is called “The Hub,” because it is essentially the hub of the park with the spokes radiating out into the various “lands.” At the center of The Hub is the “Partners” statue of Walt Disney holding hands with Mickey Mouse.  The best maps highlight what is most important to the user and minimize the clutter and superfluous information.

Inclusivity and Accessibility

Disneyland is a place for everyone and this portion of the map legend illustrates this very clearly. It includes icons for disabilities, health issues, babies, service animals, animals who need to be boarded while their families visit the park, a picnic area for families who prefer to save money and bring their own meals.

http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/

Progressive Disclosure As you open this map, an overview of the five boroughs is displayed along with standard zoom options, a search and advanced options (Additional Map Data) on the left such as parks, public transportation, etc.

Feedback  When zooming in or out, as well as searching for a specific address or landmark, the map shows results as soon as actions are taken. On the left side, once you click on one of the options (e.g. Cultural Institution -> Museum) the map indicates with the corresponding icon all locations instantly.

Layering The zoom option allows to view the entire city or specific details. The advanced options on the left side groups categories of things to see or find in the city. As opposed to other maps, this interactive map is clean and gives the user the opportunity to see only the information requested by the user.

Iconic Representation: The icons on the left side advanced options provide cues in addition to descriptions (e.g. hospital, library, airports, etc.). The icons provide not only visual representation, but also functionality. By clicking on an option, all the locations are displayed on the map with an icon. Upon clicking on the icon, further information is displayed on a modal fly-out.

Wayfinding: The first view of the map (zooming in into the city) highlights main streets and parks that provide general orientation. The left side Additional Data provides a visual way to select an option, see it immediately on the map and immediate feedback to the user for confirmation of selection.

 

This is an Orange County guide map published by Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA).

Simplicity:  Since the focus of this map is to provide driving direction, the design is focused on roads and streets. For this reason, the designer used simplicity and removed all the unnecessary information such as buildings, businesses and other structures to simplify the map.

Consistency: One of the features that makes reading this map easy, is the use of elements in consistent manner. For example, all freeways in this map are presented in red, toll roads are shown as green, the total area of parks and gardens are marked by light green while their border are shown by series of  dashed lines throughout the map.  

Iconic Representation : In this map the designer used iconic representation to represent variety of information using symbols and icons. For example, using the AAA’s logo to highlighting AAA’s branches on the map or using icon of a boat to represent deep sea sport-fishing landings.

Mental Model: People understand and interact with the world and their environment via their own lens which is developed based on their previous experiences. This map is using mental model approach when illustrating elements. For example, in our mental model, color blue is associated with water, hence, the designer used blue when representing a lake, a river and an ocean. Similarly, green was used to mark parks and gardens while shades of  brown was used to represent mountains .

Legibility: The legibility of the elements in the map is important since map’s readability is the key to its proper use. Hence, paying attention to the distance between the words, the font, its size as well as its color are extremely important. The font size and color should be carefully considered and chosen to make any map legible. By using the proper font, font size and color this map has become clear and easy to read.

 

 

 

 

Strategies:

1 Iconic Representation
Each of the 195 stations in Mexico City’s subway/metro system is marked by a distinct icon representing unique landmarks, famous historical figures, cultural actives & artifacts, animals or other symbols referencing the city’s colonial, Catholic, and indigenous past.

 

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2 Orientation Sensitivity
All of the lines representing the metro routes are oriented either on the horizontal/ vertical axis, or on lines differing by no more than 30 degrees from these axis. These line orientations make it easier on the user to process the map, lines differing by less than an angle of 30 degrees are harder to distinguish.

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3 Proximity
The 2×2 grid for 1,5,9,A is positioned closest to the Pantitlan station icon and is used to indicate that this station is an common start/end point for the 4 routes: 1, 5, 9, A. Things that are closer together are seen as more related than things farther apart. The 4 colors used in the 2×2 also reinforce which route name corresponds to which line: 1 is the pink line, 5 is the yellow line, etc.

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4 Inclusivity & Accessibility
The Mexico City metro system was designed and built in the 1960s at a time when the literary rate was low. The station icons were designed from the beginning to allow the large population easily navigate and adopt the new transportation system. Literacy rates have risen since then, but since the metro design worked so well, as it grew they kept the iconic representations and added new ones. Today the metro system map is easily understandable for international visitors who don’t know Spanish.

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5 Uniform Connectedness
The stations of a route are connected by a line. This is particularly helpful for routes that are not straight lines, for example the blue line which goes horizontal and then vertical.  Things that are connected by a line are perceived as more related than things not connected. Also routes that cross, where a station services intersecting routes are distinguished by intersecting lines at that station. Color also reinforces the relation of connected stations as part of a route. Additionally mixed color icons represent intersecting stations.

SeaWorld San Diego Map

 

Picture Superiority Effect: This map utilizes pictures to improve the recognition and recall of key information along with words to ensure they reinforce the same information for optimal effect. For instance, the picture of killer whales beside “Shamu Stadium” helps viewers identify their surroundings, reinforce the stadium name, and strengthens information recall better than with the text alone.

 

Iconic Representation: The use of these small pictorial images help make locations, amenities, and site-specific information on the map easier to find, recognize, learn, and remember. Symbolic and example icons coupled with a legend at the bottom serve as a space-efficient alternative to text and help indicate multiple concepts in a limited amount of space.

 

Legibility: Despite the abundant use of bold color throughout the map, the text remains reasonably easy to read. The sans serif typeface combined with contrast in the form of light text surrounded by a dark stroke help increase legibility. The larger text size, use of all-caps, heavier weight, and even spacing between the letters for the main venues establish a hierarchy and contribute to this effect.

 

Proportion: This map draws attention to popular destination points by visualizing them at a much larger scale that does not reflect their real-life proportions to their surroundings. 

 

Three-Dimensional Projection: This map utilizes visual cues like shading, linear perspective, texture gradient, and elevation on objects to encourage the perception of three-dimensional projection.

Interactive Map of Arizona State University, Tempe Campus

1) Color– The map uses varying, true to life colors to make it visually easier to differentiate between different buildings and spaces on the map.

2) Picture Superiority Effect- The map uses renderings of the buildings that are accurate to how they look in real life which makes identifying places and navigating campus using the map easier.

3) Three-Dimensional Projection– The map shows structures as being three-dimensional using visual cues such as shading/shadowing, linear perspective and elevation.

4) Iconic Representation– The map uses recognizable icons to convey information and allows the user to select which type of icons they wish to see on the map.

5) Biophilia Effect– Areas of vegetation and green space are predominant throughout the map, giving the map viewer the impression of a pleasant environment ideal to improve concentration, reduce stress and promote a healing environment. [Having previously attended ASU, this map is deceptive; there is very little actual green space, grassy areas are often not watered so the grass is primarily brown and dead and the trees are very small and offer little foliage coverage.]

This 3D map of Portland includes topography of the city as well as extruded views of buildings in the city center. This particular map has a more pronounced figure ground relationship than most maps as the figures are more detailed and mimics the familiar landmarks of the city. While some of the buildings are immediately recognizable to any inhabitant of the city, it verges on a poor signal-to-noise ratio and the density of non-recognizable information obscures some essential characteristics and features of a map, like legible street names. It does however provide a useful comparison of the visual and functional differences within the city, capturing where business, commerce and residential density are located vs a traditional map that does not represent structures, only routes and/or topography. The stickiness of this map is primarily in its novelty, since its data is incomplete for capturing all structures trees and other features of the city.

Perhaps the most interest element of this map is it is somewhat open source, and viewers can comment and enrich the map with their comments, giving it added richness over time, and as an interactive platform, detail can be added and expanded from its current state.

Map Link

 

 

 

 

 

Map of the St. Louis Zoo

Hierarchy of Needs

The map and legend only highlight specific points of interest to patrons due to the hierarchy of their needs. Things like viewing platforms and souvenir penny presses are not included, for example.

Picture Superiority Effect

Instead of writing the names of the animals on display in certain habitats, the maps employs a simple outline of the animal’s form instead.

Accessibility

By color coding the different levels of accessible paths, this map goes one step further by showing the user the levels of accessibility on various paths throughout the zoo.

Legibility

The main areas of the zoo are displayed with a black background so they have the highest contrast. These titles stand out and are easier to read than all other kinds of text on the map.

Mimicry/ Continuation

The use of hash marks to show train tracks on the map employs mimicry as a design strategy. The marks mimic the real-life look of actual train tracks. In this particular close-up, the train tracks are separated, but because of the Gestalt principle of continuation, it appears as if the train tracks are in a tunnel instead of ending and beginning again.

Interactive map of Disneyland and California Adventures in Anaheim, CA.

1. Proximity: the map employs this technique by visually grouping related things that belong to a specific “land” into its own section. (i.e. Fantasyland, Tomorrowland)

Fantasyland + Tomorrowland

2. Picture Superiority Effect: the pictures on the map are accurate representations of what to expect in real-life. This gives people a glimpse into what’s expected in that location.

Sleeping Beauty Castle

3. Consistency: the map has consistent real-life illustrations of theme park rides and dining options across both California Adventures and Disneyland

Aerial view of California Adventure

4. Iconic Representation: the map uses easily icons to help people easily find what they’re looking for.

Icons for dining, restrooms, entertainment, and attractions are shown above.

5. Three-Dimensional Projection: the map presents objects as three-dimensional based on the size, linear perspective, and shading of the images.

Guardians of the Galaxy building

I was visiting Taipei and didn’t have a complete itinerary. Turns out, all I needed was this map! It gave me all the relevant information, without consulting the internet and I had the best time!

• Good Continuation: The routes are perceived as moving north/south or east/west. The lines show movement and smooth integration with other elements for easy, visual guidance.
• Color: 8 distinct colors represent the different routes. Each line is separated clearly. For transfers or intersections, the color is mixed together.
• Proximity: The map shows all the stops and routes. The list of attractions is shown to the exterior of the map routes, but a dotted line connects the attraction list to appropriate route, showing the relationship through proximity and color.
• Legibility: Each route shares popular attractions which are very legible. Contrasting colors, size and text blocks draw the user out of the map route and into colored boxes to think about attractions.
• Consistency: The 8 routes are all labeled in the same size, type and even orientation of the text (horizontal/vertical). These elements show that all routes are equal, with one not more prominent than the other. They all look like they are part of a system.

Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Rail & Roads Atlas,  1993 – Akasaka, Roppongi Area (page36)

Layering: Map employs laying technique everywhere on the page to manage complexity and reinforces relationship in the information. (i.e., Street and metro line are layered. Types are over lapping with streets and areas)

Iconic Representation: Japanese standard geographical iconic representations are used to display School, Postal office, Shrine, Temple, Bank, etc…

Hierarchy: Typographical hierarchy is employed to distinguish geographical hierarchy (i.e., the wards, the neighborhoods, the areas and the buildings)

Consistency: The consistent typographical, color and graphical treatments are applied throughout the entire booklet of the map.

Highlighting: some texts are highlighted in pink and blue to draw attention.

 

The Raging Waters Map focuses on the activities and experience at the park. It conveys joy, excitement, and action to attract visitors.

Less is a bore 

There’s so much going on. There’s so much to do at Raging Waters! The map turns basic objects like building into birthday cakes, roofs into a ticket, and an ice cream cone as a location marker.

Baby face bias

What a cute dragon! I want to ride the dragon’s tail!

Picture Superiority Effect

A picture is worth $25.40. It uses illustrations instead of words to communicate the activities that take place on the map.

Recognition over recall

The map uses familiar icons to communicate important information including first aid, handicap locations, and restrooms.

Movement

Again, the experience is center stage. The map conveys the action through movement in the illustrations.

This is how most people see and understand a map today; mostly online, and on a mobile device.  Also, today, the idea of a map is just a portion of what we considered a map in the past. Before we used to have to unfold a very large piece of paper, have a broad view, and then fold/focus in the area we needed to. Today, is mostly a tool to  show directions from Point A to point B

Chunking:  The map contains a lot of information in a easy-to-ready format. It has to condense several levels of information including street names, geography, possible routes, etc. into one view. 

Consistency This is key for a map. Similar objects or features must appear in a dependable way as to allow the user to navigate almost instinctively without having to second-guess the meaning of use of a feature.

Efficiency: The map should let you accomplish your goals in a quick view without spending too much time and maximizing it use. 

Principle of Least Astonishment People have a preconceived notion of what a map should do and how; it is a tool not to challenge but to aid  the userrs

Clarity: This is very challenging for a map since it has to cover a lot of information, but a strategy that must be accomplished to make a successful map.  A map should always communicate clearly providing the information  they need, with no additional options.

 

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This is a map I have kept since my infantry training back in 1998. It shows the training area around Catterick Garrison, which is in the north of England. I have noted the following design strategies:

1. Alignment. The grid is specifically designed in rows and columns for ease of reference.
2. Consistency. Components of the map are color-coded or shaped the same based on what they represent, so they can be easily identified.
3. Forgiveness. Danger areas have red boundaries to help you avoid them.
4. Iconic Representation. Certain items on the map are displayed as icons for the various benefits it provides, includes recognition and recall, and reduction in space used.
5. Signal-to-Noise. This map is specifically used for military maneuvers. It has therefore been tailored to only show relevant information by removing unnecessary information that would otherwise be extra noise.

 

I got to work on Lollapalooza event app back in 2014, although I didn’t design the map, I managed to keep the map on my local drive. This seems like a perfect exercise to revisit the map again!

Below are 5 design principles that I believe the map employs to organize visual information:

Entry point

 

There are only two ways visitors can enter or exit the event, the map did a good job specifying the entrances. Once you locate the two entrances, you can look at what’s around you to identify which entrance you are at.

Recognition over recall

This is where the legend comes in handy. The designer used the same design treatments for the stages, so although each stage has its own name, it’s easy to recognize each spikey badge represent a stage.

Layering

The green area layers on top of the grey (ground) are there to let the visitors know that the green space is grass. This helps the users orient themselves and makes the map easier to understand.

Highlighting

This is possibly the result of the constraint (due to the shape of the map) and a workaround design, but the purple highlighting plus an arrow is an effective way to promote the LollaShop nonetheless.

Constraint

Lastly, the map is definitely not rectangular by chance. The designer embrace the constraints (shape of the venue) to make all necessary information fit perfectly into the map.