Several user studies have been conducted to evaluate the User Experience (UX) of thematic mobile maps, but models describing the results beyond point studies are still lacking. This article explored mathematical functions to predict the UX on the visualization types Choropleth Maps and Graduated Symbol Maps. Ten different Choropleth Maps and ten different Graduated Symbol Maps were utilized to conduct a user study, in which 30 participants solved information-gathering tasks on a mobile device. The data from the first 20 participants served as input to build 12 mathematical models on the accuracy, efficiency, perceived mental demand, perceived performance, perceived effort demanded and perceived frustration level for solving the given map tasks. The predictive performance of the models was then evaluated using data from the remaining ten participants and the predictions were within 30% of unseen empirical data. The models obtained are relevant to the design of adaptive and plastic geovisualizations on mobile devices.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.