The wheel of design: assessing and refining the usability of geoportals

ABSTRACT

Geoportals play a major role in geospatial data distribution to end-users like researchers and engineers. For maximum effectiveness, an intuitive and comprehensive graphical user interface (GUI) is a paramount property of such portals. GeoVITe (GEOdata Visualization and Interactive Training Environment) is a geodata-sharing portal, providing ETH Zurich employees with direct access to geoinformation and geoservices. The guiding functional requirement for the GeoVITe geoportal is that a user should visually (spatially, thematically and temporally) navigate the spatial data, select the desired dataset and area and directly download the required data in a straightforward manner through a user-friendly GUI running in a standard Web browser. After several improvements that have been made to GeoVITe since its wide-spread launch in 2010, the user interface of GeoVITe was recently put under scrutiny with the help of a usability evaluation. Results showed multiple possibilities for improvement, belonging to one of three categories: (i) distribution of GUI elements, (ii) concentration on relevant functionality and (iii) improvements to the geodata download workflow. Based on these findings, three key recommendations for designing a geoportal can be made: (i) full-screen map with simple navigation, (ii) instant user feedback and (iii) multifunctional search. Further work will require an assessment of the presented redesign as a next step in the iterative process of GUI design improvement.

RÉSUMÉ

Les Géoportails jouent un rôle majeur dans la diffusion de données géospatiales pour les utilisateurs finaux comme pour les chercheurs et les ingénieurs. Pour une efficacité maximale, une interface utilisateur graphique intuitive et complète (GUI) est une propriété primordiale de ces portails. GeoVITe est un portail de partage de données géographiques, qui offre aux employés de l’ETH de Zurich un accès direct à de la géoinformation et à des géoservices. Le besoin fonctionnel de guidage pour le géoportail GeoVITe est que l’utilisateur puisse naviguer visuellement (spatialement, thématiquement ou temporellement) sur les données spatiales, puisse choisir les données et la zone désirées et puisse télécharger directement les données dont il a besoin de façon directe à travers une interface conviviale qui tourne sur navigateur web standard. Après plusieurs améliorations faites sur GeoVITe depuis son lancement en 2010, l’interface utilisateur de GeoVITe a été récemment examinée à l’aide d’une évaluation d’utilisabilité. Les résultats ont montré de multiples possibilités d’améliorations, appartenant à l’une des trois catégories suivantes: (1) la répartition des éléments de l’interface graphique (2) la concentration des fonctions pertinentes (3) des améliorations dans le processus de chargement des données. A partir de ces trois résultats, trois recommandations clés peuvent être faites pour la conception de géoportail: (1) une carte grande écran avec une navigation simple (2) une prise en compte instantanée des utilisateurs (3) un moteur de recherche multifonctionnel.

KEYWORDS:

• Geoportal
• geodata sharing
• user interface
• usability
• GeoVITe
• Geodata4SwissEDU

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Benjamin Kellenberger received the MSc degree in Remote Sensing from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, in 2014. During 2015 - 2016 he served as a research assistant at the Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation of ETH Zurich. He is currently working towards a Ph.D. degree in machine learning and its applications to remote sensing at the University of Zurich.

Ionut Iosifescu Enescu is a senior researcher at the Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation of ETH Zurich and the technical project manager of the GeoVITe and the Geodata4SwissEDU projects. He holds degrees in Geomatics and Computer Science, and received his Ph.D. degree from ETH Zurich in 2011. He specializes in GIS, Web Cartography and Cartographic Web Services.

Raluca Nicola has been a scientific research assistant at ETH Zurich since 2014. She holds an international masters degree in Cartography and her expertise lies in Web Cartography.

Cristina M. Iosifescu Enescu holds degrees in Geomatics and Phychology and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree at the Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation of ETH Zurich. Her dissertation subject is 'Dream Cartography - Mapping Dream Space and Dream Content into an Interactive Web Platform for Exploratory Analysis of Dreams’.

Nadia H. Panchaud, MSc, is a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation (IKG) at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Her current research interests cover web cartography, smart symbology, geoportal technologies, and open data.

Roman Walt is employee of map collections at the ETH-Bibliothek. He is responsible for user requests in the field of spatial data and digital maps and project team member of ‘Geodata4SwissEDU’.

Meda Hotea is head of the Department Rare Books and Maps of the ETH-Library. She also coordinates the activities for e-rara.ch, the platform for digitized rare books and maps from Swiss libraries.

Arlette Piguet is head of Customer Services at the ETH-Bibliothek. This library is the central university library of ETH Zurich and the largest library in Switzerland. In the last few years the ETH-Bibliothek has invested substantial efforts in developing user-friendly products and services in the digital age. Arlette Piguet has managed future-oriented library projects for many years and has become a recognized expert. She is currently project leader of ‘Geodata4SwissEDU’, a cooperation project for developing a national geoinformation service for education and research.

Lorenz Hurni has been Associate Professor of Cartography and director of the Institute of Cartography at ETH Zurich since November 1996 (Full Professor since October 2003). Under his lead, the prizewinning multimedial ‘Atlas of Switzerland’, commissioned by the Federal Council, as well as the ‘Swiss World Atlas’, the official Swiss school atlas, commissioned by the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education, are being developed. Lorenz Hurni is a member of numerous national and international scientific and professional commissions and of the ‘Leopoldina - German Academy of Sciences’.

ORCID

Benjamin Kellenberger http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2902-2014

Ionut Iosifescu Enescu http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1770-7833

Cristina M. Iosifescu Enescu http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8127-2021

Lorenz Hurni http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0453-8743

Notes

1. These institutions include the ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne, Eawag aquatic research, Paul Scherrer Institute and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

2. http://www.usability.ch

3. http://openlayers.org

4. http://map.geo.admin.ch

5. Note that while drawing a rectangle is also used to define the data extent, this functionality may still be activated with a separate button for better differentiation between map navigation and extent definition controls.