NACIS 2016 Presentation Carl Sack, UW-Madison Robert E. Roth, UW-Madison Kristen Vincent, UW-Madison What is MapStudy? Simply put, it's a platform that aims to empower the next generation of scientific cartography experiments. Have you ever wanted to test whether a certain type of map, certain visual variables, certain interactions, or certain data are better for particular purposes? MapStudy makes it easy! This talk will cover what MapStudy can do for you, how to set it up, and what lies ahead for the project. You don't have to wait to use it though--go fork MapStudy on GitHub at github.com/uwcart/mapstudy now!

1. Introducing
MapStudy
a survey design framework for 21st Century Cartography
Carl M. Sack
Kristen Vincent
Robert E. Roth
University of Wisconsin-Madison

2. MapStudy – NACIS 2016
The Skinny
 What is MapStudy?
 Why MapStudy?
 Architecture
 Dance Break
 Setup
 Case Study

3. MapStudy – NACIS 2016
MapStudy: What is it?
“MapStudy is an integrated, modularized framework for the
creation of survey applications designed to test cartographic design
and interaction hypotheses in a modern web map environment.”
–Documentation

4. MapStudy – NACIS 2016
MapStudy: What is it?
“MapStudy is an integrated, modularized framework for the
creation of survey applications designed to test cartographic design
and interaction hypotheses in a modern web map environment.”
–Documentation

5. MapStudy – NACIS 2016
Why MapStudy?
 Do the same design principles apply to online maps?
 What about UI/UX design for interactive web maps?

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Architecture
Manovich’s (2001) Five Principles of New Media:
1. Numerical Representation
2. Modularity
3. Automation
4. Variability
5. Transcoding

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Architecture
(yep, this figure is too large)

8. MapStudy – NACIS 2016
Window Sections

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Window Sections
header
map
questions
footer

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Pages

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Pages

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Map Library
 Currently only Leaflet
 Coming (soon?): D3, MapboxGL, image, REST service, iframe

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Map Interactions

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Map base layers
 Layers that cannot be interacted with except to swap (if enabled)

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Map data layers

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Questions

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Question Sets

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Question Sets

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Question Blocks

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Question Inputs

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Question Inputs

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Question Inputs

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Question Input Options and Items

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Question Buttons

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Question Timers
Set

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Question Timers
Page

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Conditions
 Each user assigned a condition
 Each condition defines a page order
 Pages can be grouped and randomized
 Condition weights determine frequency of assignment

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Server
Data Tables:
Table Rows Columns
Master Participants Participant ID, time last updated, question block/item labels,
submission point timestamps
Page Participants Participant ID, time last updated, question block/item labels,
submission point timestamps
Participant Question block/item Question label, question text, input answer

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Server
Interaction Tables:
Table Rows Columns
Master Participants Participant ID, interaction hit counts, interaction string
Page Participants Participant ID, interaction hit counts, interaction string
Participant Timestamps Interaction, page, set

30. MapStudy – NACIS 2016
Dance Break

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Downloading and Installing

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Configuration
http://grad.geography.wisc.edu/cmsack/mapstudy/setup/

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Configuration Files
 GitHub Docs describe config files
and list all config file options
 Also includes links to setup and
demo apps
 github.com/uwcart/mapstudy

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Case Study: MapStudy 1

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Case Study: MapStudy 1
 Designed to test different map techniques at two scales using
fake Twitter data
 Feedback so far:
 Relatively easy to set up using setup app and docs
 Picky about data formatting, attribute names
 Requires some trial and error
 Needs more documentation of possible hacks

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Future Goals
 Add and continue to update map libraries
 Add additional interactions
 Expand flexibility of questions
 Build developer and user communities to give it legs

37. MapStudy – NACIS 2016
Thank you.
Carl M. Sack – cmsack@wisc.edu
Kristen Vincent – kvincent2@wisc.edu
Robert E. Roth – reroth@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A portion of this research was
funded by NSF Grant #1555267