Christopher J. Parker

Usability of Geographic Information: Current challenges and future directions

The use of Geographic Information or GI, has grown rapidly in recent years. Previous research has identified the importance of usability and user centred design in enabling the proliferation and exploitation of GI. However, the design and development of usable GI is not simply a matter of applying the tried and tested usability methods that have been developed for software and web design. Dealing with data and specifically GI brings with it a number of issues that change the way usability and user centred design can be applied. This paper describes the outcomes of a workshop held in March 2010 exploring the core issues relating to GI usability. The workshop brought together an international group of twenty experts in both human factors and GI, from a wide range of academic and industrial backgrounds. These experts considered three key issues, the stakeholders in GI, key challenges applying usability to GI and the usability methods that can be successfully applied to GI. The result of this workshop was to identify some areas for future research, such as the production of meaningful metadata and the implications of blurring of the line between data producers and data consumers.

The role of VGI and PGI in supporting outdoor activities

This paper explored the question of how volunteered and professional geographic information (VGI and PGI) can be used together in an outdoor recreation context. In particular, consideration is given to what makes each information source valuable to the user, and how this can be used to help developers of GIS provide more useful, usable and satisfying products. The assumption that VGI is inferior to PGI is shown to be unfounded; rather each has its own strengths in describing particular aspects of the user information landscape. Considering the opportunities to influence user activities, both VGI and PGI have a greater ability to influence the user in the planning phase than actually during the activity. The importance of the author of the information (volunteer or professional) is shown to be of less importance to the end-user than the characteristics which describe the information in terms of communication, frequency of updates and accessibility.

User-centred design of neogeography: the impact of volunteered geographic information on users' perceptions of online map 'mashups'.

This paper investigates the influence of presenting volunteered and professionally created geographic information to 101 wheelchair users through an interactive website that included information collected by wheelchair-using volunteers. The aim of this experiment was to understand the influence that (1) knowing a map-based website contains volunteered information and (2) actually including volunteered information within an online interactive map (a mashup) have on the perceived trust of the user, described in terms of quality and authority. Analysis using Kruskal–Wallis showed that judgements of currency were influenced by including geo-information from untrained volunteers (volunteered geographic information) within the mashup, but not influenced by the participant being told that the online map contained volunteered information. The participants appeared to make judgements based on what information they saw, rather than what they were told about the source of the information. Practitioner Summary: Since 2004, information services have combined crowdsourced (volunteered) alongside professional information within online interactive maps. An online experiment presented both of these information types to wheelchair users within a travel context. Including volunteered information was shown to increase the perceptions of how up-to-date the maps were.

A Framework of Neogeography

Within the current literature, confusion exists as to the terminology used for the various technologies, innovations and phenomenon associated with VGI. This is best highlighted by Elwood (2008) in that these developments [in geotagging data] have been referred to with a plethora of terms, including neogeography… web mapping… volunteered geographic information… ubiquitous cartography… and wiki-mapping. This extensive list is added to by Crampton (2008) with Spatial Media, Locative Media, Spatial Crowdsourcing, Geocollaboration and Map Hacking. Suggesting an explanation for this, Tulloch (2008) suggests that initial islands of research producing unique or proprietary vocabulary may introduce buzzwords which suit their cause, yet die out over time. As Crampton (2008) commented, the [neogeographic] situation has from its birth been both increasingly important and interestingly messy, with its confusing terminology being linked with the emergence of the Web 2.0 and Neogeographic phenomenon itself (Das and Kraak 2011).

Study Two: Understanding Design with VGI Using an Information Relevance Framework

The inclusion of information by potentially untrained volunteers (VGI: Goodchild 2007) alongside that of the trained professional (Professional Geographic Information, PGI) has been one of the most significant shifts in the way information delivers meaning about our environment since the birth of Web 2.0 and neogeography.

Study Three: Assessing the Impact of VGI

Study Two demonstrated that in a realistic use scenario, consumers are more likely to use VGI and PGI alongside each other (where available) in order to converge on a truth than to use individual VGI or PGI data sets. However, as highlighted by Rieh (2002) the way in which information is perceived by a consumer during an information search is based on a multitude of influences. The perception of information is critical, since it will influence the extent to which it is used.

Data Generation: VGI and PGI Data Sets

In this book, research has sought to understand the way in which users perceive the utility of VGI to help aid them in their activities. The scoping study demonstrated that the users’ decision to utilise VGI within professional, personal and social settings comes from their level of trust in the data and degree of homogeneity between the data user and the data contributor. More importantly, the scoping study suggested that the consumer would consider both VGI and PGI using the same criteria, in order to achieve their personal needs. Study Two highlighted how the consumer perceptions of VGI and PGI are influenced by their use requirements, where it is more useful to consider the attributes of the data (e.g. its currency) rather than the professionalism of the contributor. Study Two also demonstrated that the user judgement of trust is a key perception in the analysis of information during an information search, alongside cognitive authority and overall quality.

Scoping Study: User Perceptions of VGI in Neogeography

Current research into Volunteered Geographic Information—VGI (Goodchild 2007a)—in the context of neogeography has revolved around the computer science perspectives of its utilisation for technical benefit (University of Heidelberg 2010). Although VGI has been shown to be more than accurate enough (Haklay 2010a) in its spatial positioning, the reaction of users to VGI, how they perceive it, and its effect on their lives is less clear.