When Size Matters: Towards Evaluating Perceivability of Choropleths
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Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Eurographics Association
Abstract
Choropleth maps are an invaluable visualization type for mapping geo-spatial data. One advantage to a choropleth map over other geospatial visualizations such as cartograms is the familiarity of a non-distorted landmass. However, this causes challenges when an area becomes too small in order to accurately perceive the underlying color. When does size matter in a choropleth map? We conduct an experiment to verify the relationship between choropleth maps, their underlying color map, and a user's perceivability. We do this by testing a user's perception of color relative to an administrative area's size within a choropleth map, as well as user-preference of fixed-locale maps with enforced minimum areas. Based on this initial experiment we can make the first recommendations with respect to a unit area's minimum size in order to be perceivably useful.
Description
@inproceedings{10.2312:cgvc.20181221,
booktitle = {Computer Graphics and Visual Computing (CGVC)},
editor = {{Tam, Gary K. L. and Vidal, Franck},
title = {{When Size Matters: Towards Evaluating Perceivability of Choropleths}},
author = {McNabb, Liam and Laramee, Robert S. and Wilson, Max},
year = {2018},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association},
ISBN = {978-3-03868-071-0},
DOI = {10.2312/cgvc.20181221}
}