L.A.’s Cartifact recently released Cartifact Maps, a Flash-based tilemaps viewer with custom cartography and advanced map browsing tools. The historic overlays and beautiful cartographic design are perhaps of most interest, but I’m equally impressed by their implementation of a novel map browsing UI featuring a magnifying glass or “lens tool”.
I first saw this map [...]
I learn the most about UI design and functionality from simply watching people use my applications. One thing I’ve noticed lately, while watching people use the zoom controls on the World Freedom Atlas, is that the online maps style of pre-set zoom levels has been internalized by many users. They are not used [...]
I’ve been very happy with the response to my World Freedom Atlas. But I’ve felt since early on that some of its coolest functionality may be hidden behind an overly minimal interface. And it desperately needs a help system.
Take the bivariate choropleth view and legend. This ability to compare two governance-related variables, [...]