12 Neo-Cartographic Tips For Developers

1] Testing
3-5 typical users 
Sample tasks 
Test for 30 - 45 minutes
Sit behind them observing
'what are you thinking?'
Identify most Errors
12] Testing
Take away message
3] Less is More
Which of these is the best table?
Number of lines minimised
Chart Junk minimised (serifs)
Capitalised text
Apple Tree rule for emphasis
All 'ink' must have a purpose


4] Marketing vs Clarity
OS map more clear similar number of layers
OS map customised, GE designed for zoom
Marketing in Icons vs simple symbols
Web 2.0 not simple

Summary: marketing sometimes adds lots of clutter

Other Points
Plain background

more detail http://bit.ly/ajhoBz


5] Data Density
Get more data on by lowering intensity of an element
Color
Width
Size

Demphasize things that don't matter, e.g. road types.

6] Color
Color Blindness
Harmonious colors
Symbolic colors
Seas of Blood!
http://colorbrewer2.org/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/101594790/sizes/m/
7] Simple
 Balloons

No Scroll bars
Logos, real estate
Tabs, Maybe (Links instead)
Clutter
Acronyms
Plot data on map

8] Layer Control/Interactions
Keep Simple
Make more maps
What does the user really want to see?
Avoid children
Headers? (cross tips)
The first link is the map I took the bad layers and balloons from
http://dev.hillsborough.wateratlas.usf.edu/datamapper/



9] Introductions
Demo what  users can do
Brief Text intro
Examples of interesting points
For More info:

10] Web Language
Short, concise. Think poster adverts.
Scanability (bold, sub titles, paragraphs)
Do users understand your headers/data sections/acronyms?

11] Icons
http://www2.geog.soton.ac.uk/users/TrevesR/ge_tut/writing_introductions.html


Simple (2 tone)
Change from default
Meaningful Symbols, avoid key
Use halos if against satellite data
Web icon not = for GeoWeb
Web 2.0 (cross tip)
more detail at http://bit.ly/9B6CJN

2] Data Overload

Split into layers
blobs and pins
Density maps, unbound and bound
Heat map of density by grid
Region control so points appear at certain zoom
more detail: http://bit.ly/bCn84J

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oil_Reserves.png
Related to Web Usability
These points all relate 
to web page design too 
and a lot more has been
written about that than
about GeoWeb design. 
A nice introduction:
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/biggest-mistakes-in-web-design-1995-2015.html#4
Related to Info Graphic Design
These points all relate 
to information graphic design.  The best commentator on this is Edward Tufte but his commentary is in books so here's a link discussing his work:
http://googleearthdesign.blogspot.com/2007/11/tufte-ideas-on-google-earth-projects.html
and this is the one I took the good layers from
http://decouverte.letram-brest.fr/carte#

Links to examples
0] Introduction
Mix Usability, Cartography, Graphic design.
50cm between back of user's head, back of screen
Prezi - 'map' presentation 
See More at
http://GoogleEarthDesign.blogspot.com