Abstract
This paper deals with user and usability research related to the field of cartography. In the first part of the paper ‘success’ is defined in the context of online mapping applications. The need for user and usability research is supported by the provision of the results from a literature review. Then the paper elaborates on the term ‘usability’ and what this term means in a cartographic context. Next, the concept of user-centred design is introduced and methods of usability engineering are discussed. This is followed by a description of usability aspects of selected mapping applications that have been developed as gateways to cultural history disciplines. Finally the application design and usability of the CHIS – the Cultural History Information System for the Western Himalaya and the benefits arising from following a usercentred design approach are outlined.
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Acknowledgements
This research is undertaken within an interdisciplinary project called ‘The Cultural History of the Western Himalaya from the 8 th Century’ which began in 2007 at the University of Vienna, Austria. This Austrian National Research Network (NRN), supported by the Austrian Science Fund, includes cartographers, art historians, numismatists, Buddhist philosophers, and Tibetan and Sanskrit philologists. The main objectives of the NRN are to intensify research on the cultural history of the Western Himalayas as well as to develop a map-based Cultural History Information System (CHIS) for sharing the outcomes with other experts and the interested public.
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Schobesberger, D. (2011). User-Centred Design of a Web-Based Cartographic Information System for Cultural History. In: Kriz, K., Cartwright, W., Hurni, L. (eds) Mapping Different Geographies. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15537-6_10
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