Challenging conventions for geovisualization interface design: implications for exploratory data analysis

The use of interface metaphors and cartographic guidelines for facilitating communication between cartographer and user may serve to limit the power of the system or the representation for a diverse set of users or a diverse set of uses. For example, the data exploration tasks typical of geovisualization systems may be hindered by strict adherence to conventional and/or traditional interface metaphors or cartographic symbolization. Successful design of geovisualization systems, therefore, should take into account factors that are socially and culturally determined and adjust design accordingly dependent on the targeted users or, more importantly, the targeted task (i.e. exploratory data analysis). This paper explores this possibility and presents the results of a pair of human-subjects experiments where some subgroups among the participants were shown non-traditional representations. Results indicate that, for data exploration tasks, designers and users should embrace unconventional designs in order to encourage creative problem solving and hypothesis generation.