Transit maps are designed to present information for using public transportation systems, such as urban railways. Creating a transit map is a time-consuming process, which requires iterative information selection, layout design, and usability validation, and thus maps cannot easily be customised or updated frequently. To improve this, scientists investigate fully- or semi-automatic techniques in order to produce high quality transit maps using computers and further examine their corresponding usability. Nonetheless, the quality gap between manually-drawn maps and machine-generated maps is still large. To elaborate the current research status, this state-of-the-art report provides an overview of the transit map generation process, primarily from Design, Machine, and Human perspectives. A systematic categorisation is introduced to describe the design pipeline, and an extensive analysis of perspectives is conducted to support the proposed taxonomy. We conclude this survey with a discussion on the current research status, open challenges, and future directions.

A Survey on Transit Map Layout - from Design, Machine, and Human Perspectives.

Three experiments are reported in which objective measures and subjective ratings of schematic metro map usability were investigated. Experiment 1 used a within-subjects design to compare octolinear and curvilinear Paris Metro maps. This replicated and extended Roberts et al. (2013); the curvilinear map was associated with faster journey planning times, and yet preference between the two was unrelated to this measure. In Experiment 2, nine matched versions of the London Underground map were rated for usability and attractiveness, and a clear octolinear bias was displayed. It was also possible to identify individuals who held a simplicity theory of effective design, versus an octolinearity theory. Experiment 3 investigated the relationship between usability ratings and journey planning times for three Berlin network maps, all optimized for simplicity of line trajectories. No differences in times were found, and yet usability ratings after experience at using the maps differed significantly, in line with the findings for the London designs in Experiment 2. Overall, the dissociation between objective measures of performance and subjective ratings of usability is robust, and appears to reflect expectations and prejudices concerning effective design. The octolinearity as a gold standard conjecture for achieving optimum usability continues to be refuted. Dissociation between objective and subjective measures of usability is demonstrated.Octolinearity as a gold standard conjecture is refuted.Usability and attractiveness ratings are collected in a large scale usability study.Intuitive theories of design are identified.

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Preference versus performance

Does the choice of colour-coding scheme affect the usability of metro maps, as measured by the accuracy and speed of navigation? Using colour to differentiate lines or services in maps of metro rail networks has been a common practice around the world for many decades. Broadly speaking, there are two basic schemes: ‘route colouring’, in which each end-to-end route has a distinct colour, and ‘trunk colouring’, in which each major trunk has a distinct colour, and the individual routes inherit the colour of the main trunk that they run along. A third, intermediate scheme is ‘shaded colouring’, in which each trunk has a distinct colour, and each route has a distinct shade of that colour. In this study, 285 volunteers in the US were randomised to these three colour-coding schemes and performed seventeen navigational tasks. Each task involved tracing a route in the New York City subway map. Overall, we found that route colouring was significantly more accurate than the trunk- and shaded-colouring schemes. A planned subset analysis, however, revealed major differences between specific navigational hazards: route colouring performed better only against certain navigational hazards; trunk colouring performed best against one hazard; and other hazards showed no effect of colour coding. Route colouring was significantly faster only in one subset.

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Metro Map Colour-Coding: Effect on Usability in Route Tracing

»Ikonizität in Kognition und Kommunikation«. Iconicity is fundamental to creative processes of reasoning such as modelling. We use models not only to orient ourselves in the physical world surrounding us but also as ways to sketch out problems by “mapping them,” describe processes, or make decisions by using models such as diagrams, maps, or schemata. Mental images are icons, and icons can lead to new and rare insights and to the discovery of relations that would not be recognized without their iconic representation. Discussing the relationship between modelling, reasoning, and creativity, this contribution argues that iconicity is essential to reasoning, communication and mutual understanding, besides being inherently performative. The paper demonstrates its argument with examples from picture viewing, map reading, and mental diagrams in verbal language.

Iconicity in Cognition and Communication

London Underground Maps: Art, Design and Cartography

When one thinks of a map depicting London, generally the image that appears is that of the map designed by Henry (Harry) Beck (1902–1974). It has become a design icon despite the fact that it eschews topography (other than the River Thames) and focuses on the simplified depiction of the topology of the Underground rail network. Beck’s map, designed in 1931, and first made available to London commuters in 1933, has become the image of the geography of London and, generally, the mental map that defines how London ‘works’. Station names have become synonymous with the above-ground landscape and the network is such that most of London’s landmarks can be readily located through the map. Navigating between them is a simple process and while the city above is a socio-economic and cultural soup, the simplicity of the map brings a sense of order, structure and sensibility. It is a perfect counterpoint to the chaos at street level. In cartographic terms, Beck’s map works and marries form with function perfe...

William Cartwright Am

Papers

Becksploitation: The Over-use of a Cartographic Icon