WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? UNDERSTANDING MOBILE MAP DESIGN By Leanne Abraham A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Geographic Information Science and Cartography) at the University of Wisconsin – Madison 2019 i TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... i LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES........................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO MOBILE MAPS .......................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose and Significance: Mobile Maps and Society ................................................... 1 1.2 Foundational Concepts for Mobile Cartography .......................................................... 3 1.3 Problem Statement and Research Questions................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 2: QUANTITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF MOBILE HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Method: QCA of Smartphone Hardware Constraints and Enablements ...................... 8 2.1.1 Overview ...............................................................................................................8 2.1.2 Materials ...............................................................................................................9 2.1.3 Procedure ..............................................................................................................9 2.1.4 Analysis...............................................................................................................11 2.2 Constraints .................................................................................................................. 11 2.2.1 Constraint: Bandwidth ........................................................................................12 2.2.2 Constraint: Battery Life ......................................................................................16 2.2.3 Constraint: Screens .............................................................................................21 2.2.4 Constraint: Screen Viewing Conditions..............................................................26 2.2.5 Constraint: Processing Power .............................................................................30 2.3 Enablements ................................................................................................................ 34 2.3.1 Enablement: Unique Interactivity .......................................................................35 2.3.2 Enablement: Mobility .........................................................................................39 2.3.3 Enablement: GPS ................................................................................................41 CHAPTER 3: QUANTITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF MOBILE MAP DESIGN ... 47 3.1 Method: QCA of Mobile Map Data, Representation, and Interaction Design ........... 47 3.1.1 Overview .............................................................................................................47 3.1.2 Mobile Map Sample ............................................................................................48 3.1.3 Procedure ............................................................................................................50 3.1.4 Analysis...............................................................................................................51 3.2 Data Characteristics .................................................................................................... 52 3.2.1 GIS Data..............................................................................................................53 ii 3.2.2 Sensor Data .........................................................................................................54 3.2.3 Non-Spatial Data .................................................................................................57 3.2.4 Data Conservation ...............................................................................................59 3.3 Mobile Map Representation Design ........................................................................... 61 3.3.1 Map Features .......................................................................................................63 3.3.2 Basemaps ............................................................................................................68 3.3.3 Map Views ..........................................................................................................70 3.3.4 Map Elements .....................................................................................................77 3.4 Mobile Map Interaction Design .................................................................................. 80 3.4.1 Work Operators ...................................................................................................82 3.4.2 Enabling Operators .............................................................................................94 3.4.3 Unique Interactivity ............................................................................................97 CHAPTER 4: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? ........................................................... 100 4.1 Research Questions ................................................................................................... 100 4.1.1 RQ 1: What makes smartphones a unique medium for map design and development? .........................................................................................100 4.1.2 RQ 2: What are the emerging best practices for mobile map design and development? .........................................................................................105 4.2 Limitations ................................................................................................................ 110 4.3 Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 112 4.4 Next Steps ................................................................................................................. 114 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 115 APPENDIX A: ...................................................................................................................... 121 iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 2.1: Smartphone network generation access 15 Figure 2.2: Maximum data download speeds 16 Figure 2.3: Historical smartphone battery capacity 18 Figure 2.4: Historical smartphone battery endurance 19 Figure 2.5: Smartphones with removeable batteries 20 Figure 2.6: Change in smartphone screen size 22 Figure 2.7: Change in screen-to-body ratio 23 Figure 2.8: Pixel density over time 24 Figure 2.9: Change in smartphone screen aspect ratio 25 Figure 2.10: Overview of smartphone screen technology utilized 27 Figure 2.11: Smartphone screen visibility indoors and outdoors 30 Figure 2.12: Number of CPU cores over time 33 Figure 2.13: Bluetooth versions used by sampled smartphones 37 Figure 2.14: Locational sensors 41 Figure 2.15: Access to assisted GPS 44 Figure 2.16: Global navigation satellite system access 45 Figure 3.1: Transit lines in Google Maps 54 Figure 3.2: Reverse geocoding in Uber 56 Figure 3.3: Search results in Google Maps 58 Figure 3.4: Rendering quality options in Google Earth 61 Figure 3.5: Teardrop icons in Google Maps 64 Figure 3.6: Custom search ROI in Zomato 66 Figure 3.7: Census data in Trulia 67 Figure 3.8: Heatmap of user activity in Snapchat 68 Figure 3.9: Road basemap in AccuWeather 69 Figure 3.10: Dark basemap in Citizen 70 Figure 3.11: Egocentric map orientation in Pokemon Go 71 Figure 3.12: Regional trails in All Trails 72 iv Figure 3.13: 3D view in Google Earth 74 Figure 3.14: Comparison of Waze on rotation 75 Figure 3.15: Compass in Wizards Unite 78 Figure 3.16: A storm in The Weather Channel 79 Figure 3.17: Semantic zoom in Fishbrain 83 Figure 3.18: Overlay and underlay options in Google Maps 86 Figure 3.19: Filtering options in Zillow 87 Figure 3.20: Search query completion in Lyft 88 Figure 3.21: Calculations in onX Hunt 89 Figure 3.22: Inset map in Gametime 91 Figure 3.23: Turn sequencing in Google Maps 91 Figure 3.24: A 3D view in Capital One 92 Figure 3.25: Symbolization options in Waze 93 Figure 3.26: Custom save options in Google Maps 96 Figure 3.27: User contributions to Citizen 97 Table 2.1: Hardware constraints for mobile mapping. 12 Table 2.2: Hardware enablements for mobile mapping. 34 Table 2.3: Unique smartphone sensors 40 Table 3.1: Summary of sampled mobile maps 49 Table 3.2: Summary of sampled mobile map data characteristics 52 Table 3.3: Summary of numeric representation and design codes 62 Table 3.4: Default basemaps in sampled mobile maps 69 Table 3.5: Mobile map sizes 74 Table 3.6: Default scale of sampled mobile maps 76 Table 3.7: Summary of interaction operators and unique interaction mechanisms 81 Table 4.1: Recommendations for mobile map design and development 113 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to