An investigation in the requirements and design of an online cartographic data comic editor

Abstract

Many interfaces exist to create a single map, but few for creating a sequence, or story from a collection of maps. Taking a 3 stage user centred design approach, this thesis designs an interface which addresses this technological gap by focusing on the requirements of the journalist. In the first stage, semi-structured expert interviews elicit user requirements and use case scenarios for the new interface. Second, existing candidate software was evaluated based on these requirements. Significant shortfalls were found particularly in guidance for the structure of a story and the ability to share the output to social media. An interface focusing on six of the requirement shortfalls was then designed and evaluated through use case scenarios, using a case study from the Malaria Atlas Project. The research concludes that a redesign of the walkthrough to aid the novice user in creating an online cartographic data comic is required before a full working prototype system can be developed.