Effect of Size, Shape and Map Background in Cartographic Visualization: Experimental Study on Czech and Chinese Populations

Zdeněk Stachoň,Zbyněk Štěrba,Jiří Čeněk,Petr Kubíček,Martina Bilíková,Stephan Angsüsser,Čeněk Šašinka

doi:10.3390/ijgi7110427

Abstract

This paper deals with the issue of the perceptual aspects of selected graphic variables (specifically shape and size) and map background in cartographic visualization. The continued experimental study is based on previous findings and the presupposed cross-cultural universality of shape and size as a graphic variable. The results bring a new perspective on the usage of shape, size and presence/absence of background as graphic variables, as well as a comparison to previous studies. The results suggest that all examined variables influence the speed of processing. Respondents (Czech and Chinese, N = 69) identified target stimuli faster without a map background, with larger stimuli, and with triangular and circular shapes. Czech respondents were universally faster than Chinese respondents. The implications of our research were discussed, and further directions were outlined.

Highlights

Research on methods of cartographic visualization has a long tradition and implications for many fields of human activity, including crisis and disaster visualizations [1,2]
Many scientific works focus on this theory [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13], and some papers try to extend the usage of the principles defined [14,15,16,17], but only a small part of published research focuses on verifying his theories. In his presentation at the International Cartographic Conference in 2017, Alan MacEachren mentioned that Bertin’s work is “ . . . often uncritically accepted” and highlighted the few uses of multivariate data/graphics [18]. Another example is the work by Christophe and Hoarau [19], where the influence of aesthetics is emphasized, whereas aesthetics in cartographic visualization is missing from Bertin’s concept
Consistent with the first hypothesis, we found that the effect of a topographic background on user performance significantly increased the time spent on the task

Summary

Introduction

Research on methods of cartographic visualization has a long tradition and implications for many fields of human activity, including crisis and disaster visualizations [1,2]. Many scientific works focus on this theory [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13], and some papers try to extend the usage of the principles defined [14,15,16,17], but only a small part of published research focuses on verifying his theories (see further) In his presentation at the International Cartographic Conference in 2017, Alan MacEachren mentioned that Bertin’s work is “ . Another example is the work by Christophe and Hoarau [19], where the influence of aesthetics is emphasized, whereas aesthetics in cartographic visualization is missing from Bertin’s concept

Methods

Results

Conclusion