Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Kitchen sink

WHAT The term kitchen sink, sometimes also referred to as Swiss army knife, is often used for apps that try to cram too much functionality and data into one interface. The result is a UI that appears busy, cluttered, less appealing, and not as user-friendly. WHY The kitchen sink pattern Mapping platforms offer a variety […]

Overview map

WHAT The overview map serve as a “You are here” sign so that the user can tell at a glance where they are in the context of the whole data set by looking for the viewport on the overview. WHY Users need to deal with the complexity of navigating through different scales, some of this […]

Placemarks

WHAT Having shortcuts to places reduces the effort to position the map at a certain pre-defined extent. WHY Navigating a map to a desired location using standard map tools is difficult and cumbersome. Placemarks provide quick links to shortcut the navigation process. The fact that placemarks exist also adds special meaning and importance to the […]

Data-ink ratio

WHAT The data-ink ratio pattern relates to the amount of ink used to provide useful information. It compares the amount of data versus the amount of ink, or pixels, used in the display. A well-designed app should aim for a high ratio of relevant to irrelevant information, or a high ratio of data to ink. […]

Desert fog

WHAT The desert fog pattern offers no discernible UI patterns such as search or home button and no orientation clues on the map, leading to a loss of orientation for map users. Without these elements, it is increasingly easy to get lost in multiscale systems. WHY The reason users interact with maps is to explore […]