Comparison of Online Maps' Zooming and Panning Tools
Conclusions
Impact for practitioners
The results of the experiment indicate that detailed descriptions on what the zooming and panning tools are, and how to use them, have a direct impact on user performance and satisfaction when using map search applications. Designers of map interfaces should consider providing a detailed description of the various tools available in order to increase user performance and satisfaction. Developers are encouraged to provide this information so users can perform a map search efficiently; rather than forcing the user to identify and figure out what tools are available for use. Our subjective responses indicate that having no knowledge of the available tools, or how to use, them caused users to spend a longer amount of time in completing their tasks. Having these tool descriptions available would eliminate frustrations that were reported during the experiment. Thus, our initial hypothesis was that of the three online map search applications, Mapquest.com, Mapblast.com, and Mapsonus.com, Mapquest.com would produce faster results and would allow the user to find a particular location in the shortest amount of time. This was anticipated due to the fact that Mapquest has a more descriptive view of zooming techniques. The experiment results proved our hypothesis; therefore we suggest that developers consider adding descriptions of the available tools such as zooming and panning.
Suggestions for future researchers
In our study, we compared only three map search applications available on the World Wide Web; Mapblast.com, Mapblast.com, and Mapsonus.com. There are many other map search applications available over the internet. Each have different representations of the various tools that aid in the search, such as zooming and panning. Each map search application has its own visual or textual representation of these tools. Since our experiment was conducted only on the three most widely used map interfaces over the internet, further experiments could explore the other map search applications.
In addition, other researchers may want to consider an alternative way of recording the history of the search. Our experiment attempted to record the history through the web-browser's history tool. There may be a more efficient way of recording the history of the search. Finally, a method that also captures the user's mistakes trying to find a particular destination.
Some researchers may also want to consider using more locations in their search. Subject's familiarity of the location should also be considered. Our experiment's results indicate that familiarity with one of the locations in the task showed a significant decrease in the time to find that location. Also of interest would be the subjects themselves. Our experiment did not take into consideration familiarity with the map interfaces. Some of the subjects had previously used one or more of the map interfaces before the experiment. This familiarity allowed the user to locate the destination quicker.
Problems we encountered :
* Server was slow at times- affected our results.
* Users did not record on data sheet the number of screens visited during their search.
* Pilot tests indicated that our original destination took too long to find. In some cases, it took over 45 minutes to locate a particular destination. We resolved this issue by setting the location to a road near the University of Maryland, allowing some familiarity to where the destination is located.
Refine the theory or develop a new one
Although our experiment proved our hypothesis that the most efficient map search application would be the application that provided a more descriptive view of zooming and panning techniques, further studies and research would be needed to be explored in order to refine the theory or develop a new one.
Other Suggestions
Results may be more accurate if there was a better method of controlling the time to load the map and the transition time when a user zooms or pans in on a destination. Other improvements to the interface design would include a way to keep the map constant without losing the destination when zooming or panning in on a destination. Problems encountered during the experiment included losing the site after the subject zoomed in on a destination. Subjects had to zoom out in order to find the location again.
