General Simple Guide About AI in Design By: A.L. Samar Hossam ElDin
03 b-maps&diagrams
1. Prepared by:
Paul Kahn – Experience Design Director
February, 2013
Media Lab, Aalto University
Helsinki, Finland
Maps, Diagrams and Timelines
INSPIRATIONFORINTERACTIVEDESIGN
2. Goals of this presentation
• “Too much information, not enough space” is not a New
Problem
• There are many solutions throughout the history of design
• What makes design work is in the user’s mind
• Whether you work on murals, monitors or mobile phones,
inspiration can be found in the underlying principals of good
design
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3. What is a map?
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La Carte est un secours que l'on fournit par les yeux à l'imagination
.
The map is an aid provided to the imagination through the eyes.
Henri Abraham Châtelain, Atlas historique, 1705
The map is not the territory.
Alfred Korzybski, Science and Sanity, 1933
In fact what is meant by information – the elementary unit of
information – is a difference that makes a difference.
Gregory Bateson, Form, Substance and Difference, 1970
What is information?
5. Maps That Visualize Networks: Link-Node Diagrams
Peutinger Table
• 3rd Century Roman road chart
Erhard Etzlaub Romweg map
• Intended for travelers between Northern Europe and
Rome in 1500
Some modern Link-Node Diagrams
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8. Peutinger Table
User-Centered Features:
• Icons represent services available on the network
• Distance between locations on the same road
• Remove space between cities not on the same road
11. Erhard Etzlaub’s Romweg
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• Designed for the pilgrimage
year 1500
• Representing the road
network connecting
Northern Europe to Rome
• The map is oriented from
the North Sea in the
foreground to the
Mediterranean Sea at the
top.
12. Circles & Dots
• 9 dots from
Lubeck to Hamborg
= 75 miles
• 14 dots from
Hamborg to Bremen =
126 miles
19. Deforming space to present information
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Turgot map of Paris engraved by Bretez and Lucas (1734-39)
• Isometric projection of streets & architecture: one vertical scale
• Widen streets to expose street names & flatten land to expose
buildings
• Separate size scales for the city and the river
27. Transportation networks: maps or diagrams?
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Harry Beck’s London Underground map (1933)
• The disappearance of above-ground details
• Stretching and compressing space to improve legibility
• Distorting geographic information to fit a regular grid
36. Metaphor Maps
The exterior shape of the map exists as a metaphor in the mind of the
viewer.
French & German national stereotype maps of Europe (1870)
• The map as geographic metaphor containing ideas
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39. Metaphor Maps
Fritz Kahn “Man as an Industrial Palace” (1920s)
• The human body as a diagram
• Homunculus (little man) as vector/actor
• Explaining biological process through mechanical metaphor
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42. Invention of the Timeline
Joseph Priestley’s invention of the timeline (1765)
• History: alignment of cultures, categories and chronology
• Biography: alignment of lifespan and chronology
Alfred Barr’s Art History (1935)
• Timeline + influence vectors
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51. Techniques used
Metaphor
Olympic pool as inverted data grid
Alignment
Swimmer’s horizontal position = year of race
Swimmer’s vertical position = time converted to distance from fastest finish
Information overlay on the data grid
Spotlight on individual swimmer in lane (year)
Time barriers as horizontal lines (1 minute, 48 seconds)
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Some of these examples are centuries old, some are recent inventions. But regardless of when they were created the most effective are the ones that serves the user’s needs. All of them illustrate ways we can think about, visually manipulate and shape information to make our designs attractive and effective on any form of display, be it a large monitor or a small mobile phone.
Châtelain, Henri Abraham, 1684-1743. Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France & des découvertes qui y ont été faites, dressée sur les observations les plus nouvelles, & sur divers mémoires tant manuscrits qu'imprimez. -- Scale [ca. 1:12 000 000] (W 110º--W 40º/N 78º--N 39º). -- [Amsterdam : Chez Châtelain, 1719].1 map ; 41 x 53 cm.LOCATION: G3400 1719 C5 RBD Maphttp://digital.library.mcgill.ca/pugsley/Pugsmaps21-25.htmhttp://www.mapsofpa.com/antiquemaps21.htm1719.7 CARTE DU CANADA OU DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE, & DES DECOUVERTES QUI Y ONT ETE FAITES, Dresseesur les observations les plus Nouvelles, & Sur divers Memoires tantManuscritsqu'imprimez, Tom. VI, No. 20, Pag:82; a map of Canada from Atlas Historique by Henri Abraham Chatelain published in Amsterdam circa 1719 (McCorkle #719.1). It includes virtually all of eastern Canada from Baffin Bay to Chesapeake Bay down to 39d, so all of Pennsylvania is included. A boundary line confines the English colonies to the sea coast; Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and New England are named, as well as Philadelphia. There are many other boundaries apparently separating Indian nations. The Great Lakes have their present names except Michigan, which is called "Lac de Ilinois." The map extends west to include the upper Mississippi. An inset at upper left gives some "Remarque Historique," naming Verrazzano, Cartier, la Salle, among others. This image shows only the lower half of the map that includes Pennsylvania. Blank verso, longitude apparently east from Ferro. Scale: 1 inch = 220 miles. Size: 16 x 20 inches. http://www.mapsofpa.com/18thcentury/1719chatelain.jpg
This contemporary map shows the area of the Roman world represented on the Peutinger table.The colored dots show the large number of locations recorded on the map, and the lines show the roads represented.To represent this area in a portable format, something that could be easily folded and unfolded by an overland traveler, (click) space is compressed into a chart that 21 feet long (click) but only 1 foot wide.This is done by essentially removing the space covered by water – of no interest to a person traveling by land – and reducing the space between the network of roads.
Click: Here is Canterbury in Southern England separated from the Continent by narrow water.Click: Here is Rennes in Brittany. The dark narrow water below this is the French coast folded up to better show the road and river network.Click: Here is Toulouse in the South of France.Click: Since there are no roads or destinations in the Mediterranean, the sea is a narrow band. And here is Dellys on the Algerian coast.
Distance from Lubeck to Hamborg = 75 miles = 9 dotsDistance from Hamborg to Bremen = 126 miles = 14 dots
Network cloudLayout pulls together nodes with most connectionsAlgorithm produces “groups” represented by colorSize of node = number of connectionsEmphasis on border conditions
“When we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war.”Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, April 26, 2010
We begin thinking about the patterns and elements that we’ll need to create our experiences.
When placed on a grid or a carpet, Gestalt principles bring individual elements into a cohesive whole. Aligned and grouped items are linked without the need for additional lines.Groups are established by color and proximity on the grid.
The design can combine different scales and perspectives for different kinds of information.
