• 1. Animation and Interactivity
  • 1.1. Animation
  • 1.2. Animation and Cartography
    • 1.2.1. Why Animation in Maps?
    • 1.2.2. History of Animated Maps
    • 1.2.3. Animated Map Types
    • 1.2.4. Self Assessment
    • 1.2.5. Unit-Summary
  • 1.3. Interactivity
  • 1.4. Interactivity and Cartography
  • 1.5. Summary
  • 1.6. Glossary
  • 1.7. Bibliography
  • 1.8. Metadata

1.2.4. Self Assessment

For mapmakers, animating maps presents an amplified cartographic challenge. Animated maps are difficult and expensive to make — even with today’s powerful software and computers. Therefore, it is always worth asking "why do I need to animate these data? Does the animation lend something to the representation that would be difficult or impossible to convey in static form?" If the answer is yes, than the added expense and time of creating an animated map may well be justified. Cartographers who want to use animation to make a better map must know the strengths and limitations of animation as a tool, and how map-readers are likely to be impacted by animation. (Harrower 2003)

Below, we present you four major challenges (disappearance, attention, complexity and confidence) within the field of creating effective animated maps. We want you to think about how to solve these challenges.

Disappearance

Animated maps change, often quite dramatically from moment to moment. As a result, there is always the potential that the map-reader will miss important information or cues. Because of disappearance (i.e., blink and you miss it), many basic map reading tasks can be very difficult, such as: estimating the size of symbols or areas, matching colours to a legend, comparing one symbol to another, or reading text labels. (Harrower 2003)

How would you solve this problem? Write your solutions down and compare them with the proposed solutions below.

Solutions (Click here for more information)

Attention

The problem of where to look as the animation plays (i.e., attention) is a related to disappearance. Many map-readers who have limited experience with animated maps do not know where to look (a problem with the map) or what to do (a problem with the interface). (Harrower 2003)

How would you solve this problem? Write your solutions down and compare them with the proposed solutions below.

Solutions (Click here for more information)

Complexity

Many animated maps try to do too much and end up saying very little. Burdening the user with more information than they can process in real-time undermines the map's design and may confuse or mislead the reader. (Harrower 2003)

How would you solve this problem? Write your solutions down and compare them with the proposed solutions below.

Solutions (Click here for more information)

Confidence

Users, especially children, are less confident of the knowledge they acquire from animation than from static graphics. Since people have far more experience visually interpreting static graphics than animated graphics, it is not surprising that without equivalent experience and training, people are less confident with animation. (Harrower 2003)

How would you solve this problem? Write your solutions down and compare them with the proposed solutions below.

Solutions (Click here for more information)

If you are interested in more information about this subject, read the article of (2003): Tips for Designing Effective Animated Maps.

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