An Exploratory Study of Models of Mobile Map User Experience Eine explorative Studie über Modelle der Nutzererfahrung bei mobilen Karten

Somaskantharajan S.; Degbelo A.; Krukar J.

Abstract

Several user studies have been conducted to evaluate the User Experience (UX) of thematic mobile maps, but models describing the results beyond point studies are still lacking. This article explored mathematical functions to predict the UX on the visualization types Choropleth Maps and Graduated Symbol Maps. Ten different Choropleth Maps and ten different Graduated Symbol Maps were utilized to conduct a user study, in which 30 participants solved information-gathering tasks on a mobile device. The data from the first 20 participants served as input to build 12 mathematical models on the accuracy, efficiency, perceived mental demand, perceived performance, perceived effort demanded and perceived frustration level for solving the given map tasks. The predictive performance of the models was then evaluated using data from the remaining ten participants and the predictions were within 30% of unseen empirical data. The models obtained are relevant to the design of adaptive and plastic geovisualizations on mobile devices.