Towards Usability Engineering for Online Editors of Volunteered Geographic Information: A Perspective on Learnability

被引:15
作者
Jones, Catherine E. [1 ]
Weber, Patrick [2 ]
机构
[1] Univ Portsmouth, Dept Geog, Portsmouth PO1 3HE, Hants, England
[2] UCL, Dept Civil Environm & Geomat Engn, London WC1E 6BT, England
关键词
GIS; OPENSTREETMAP; FUTURE;
D O I
10.1111/j.1467-9671.2012.01319.x
中图分类号
P9 [自然地理学]; K9 [地理];
学科分类号
0705 ; 070501 ;
摘要
This article presents one of the first systematic usability investigations for a Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) editor. This research is motivated by the fact that although VGI is now widely consumed, contribution rates are lagging considerably. Compared to traditional GIS interfaces, with complex interfaces resulting in high cognitive loads and barriers to participation, VGI tools and interfaces need to be easy to use and learn to encourage and facilitate contributions. This article develops a case study of OpenStreetMap, one of the most successful VGI projects, and its default editor, Potlatch2. Ten participants with no prior experience of VGI contribution, were instructed to contribute data to OSM in a structured exercise, while being monitored using an eye tracker and audio/video screen capture software. Each participant was asked to Think Aloud, i.e. describe what they were thinking and doing as they completed the tasks. The results highlight significant usability issues impacting learnability, especially from the perspective of a new contributor: hidden functionality, lack of user feedback between interactions and the inefficient and inconsistent placement of functionality and map controls. The facilitation of VGI contributions clearly depends on designing targeted interfaces, optimized to the needs of specific levels of contributors with defined goals and expectations.
引用
收藏
页码:523 / 544
页数:22
相关论文
共 54 条
[1]  
Andrienko N., 2006, Exploratory Analysis of Spatial and Tem- poral Data: A Systematic Approach
[2]  
[Anonymous], 1962, DIFFUSION INNOVATION
[3]  
[Anonymous], 2002, Proceedings of the second Nordic conference on human-computer interaction, Aarhus, Denmark, October 19-23, 2002
[4]  
Bruneau D, 2002, P INT C HUM FACT COM
[5]  
CHRISTIE D M., 1980, Proceedings of the 18th annual Southeast regional conference, Association for Computing Machinery, P103
[6]   Evaluating the Effectiveness of Interactive Map Interface Designs: A Case Study Integrating Usability Metrics with Eye-Movement Analysis [J].
Coeltekin, Arzu ;
Heil, Benedikt ;
Garlandini, Simone ;
Fabrikant, Sara Irina .
CARTOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE, 2009, 36 (01) :5-17
[7]   Citizen science: Can volunteers do real research? [J].
Cohn, Jeffrey P. .
BIOSCIENCE, 2008, 58 (03) :192-197
[8]  
Davies C, 1996, INT J GEOGR INF SYST, V10, P363, DOI 10.1080/026937996137945
[9]  
Dykes J., 2005, Exploring geovisualization
[10]   Volunteered geographic information: Future research directions motivated by critical, participatory, and feminist GIS [J].
Elwood S. .
GeoJournal, 2008, 72 (3-4) :173-183