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The first, and most obvious thing, is that they are visual. If I was going to move a piece on a map then I could point to where it was and where it needed to go. Navigation was visual but that was normal. Except, I realised it wasn’t. When people stopped me in their cars to find their way to the nearest petrol station — this was 2004 and GPS was st... See more

In some cases, the right interface idea is obvious. For example, when you’re Google trying to make the entire web accessible, you can’t expect people to learn some monstrous cataloging system of folders to find what they need. There probably exists no tagging system comprehensive enough to cover the entire web, either. So the natural choice is the

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In the map-with-route system (direct manipulation), the user must do some of the work of understanding what they see (the map), and developing a mental model of how to apply it to their context (reading the map). In exchange for this deeper involvement, the user learns a useful mental model (their local geography) that can help them in future uses

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But while the camera became the de facto method for content creation long-ago, for capturing reality, it has never served as the best method for interrogating it. To pull up information about the monument you’re standing in front of, you navigate to Google and ask a question. To see how well-regarded the restaurant you just passed is, you visit Map... See more

An overly detailed map won't be useful. Maps omit details that the artist—or user, if the map is interactive—deems irrelevant. In some cases, details are exaggerated to reflect importance. The map doesn't just need to be useful, but it needs to be usable. TED's Christina Wurman has created a concept model of the Tokyo subway based on a yin-yang.Whe... See more

Google maps only provide route options for speed and price, why not ease and beauty?

That’s what happened in the physical world. But in the digital world, there’s still no equivalent of Google Maps to understand all the different online communities and spaces that many of us interact with. You can try to Google them, but Google isn’t very helpful. We are still in this sort of uncharted, “natives only,” IYKYK stage of cartography in... See more