User Requirements Gathering for 3d Geographic Information in the United Kingdom

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Despite significant developments, 3D technologies are still not fully exploited in practice due to the lack of awareness as well as the lack of understanding of who the users of 3D will be and what the user requirements are. From a National Mapping & Cadastral Agency and data acquisition perspective, each new 3D feature type and element within a feature added (such as doors, windows, chimneys, street lights) requires additional processing and cost to create. There is therefore a need to understand the importance of different 3D features and components for different applications. This will allow the direction of capture effort towards items that will be relevant to a wide range of users, as well as to understand the current status of, and interest in, 3D at a national level. This paper reports the results of an initial requirements gathering exercise for 3D geographic information in the United Kingdom (UK). It describes a user-centred design approach where usability and user needs are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. Web-based questionnaires and semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used as complementary data collection methods to understand the user needs. The results from this initial study showed that while some applications lead the field with a high adoption of 3D, others are laggards, predominantly from organisational inertia. While individuals may be positive about the use of 3D, many struggle to justify the value and business case for 3D GI. Further work is required to identify the specific geometric and semantic requirements for different applications and to repeat the study with a larger sample.

User Requirements Gathering for a National 3d Mapping Product in the United Kingdom

“…Several studies have conducted different forms of requirements analysis of 3D data (Biljecki et al, 2015;Sargent et al, 2015;Stoter et al, 2013;Stoter et al, 2016;Walter, 2014;Wong and Ellul, 2017) -more details on these studies can be found in Wong and Ellul (2017). Two key points emerge from these studies.…”

“…In summary, it is therefore important to explore user requirements for 3D GI at the application-specific and the country-specific level, to allow NMCAs and other data producers to prioritise work towards the needs of the national audience. Within the context of the UK, a study by Wong and Ellul (2017) explored user requirements gathering for 3D geographic information using qualitative methods. Web-based questionnaires and semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used to assess the state of 3D GI adoption and use within the UK.…”

“…A web-based questionnaire with Likert-type items was selected as the primary data collection method in this study. In previous web-based questionnaires on 3D user requirements (Wong and Ellul, 2017), there were poor response rates when participants were presented with open-ended questions which required an original and personal response. To increase the response rate, the 'Usefulness of 3D 1 ' questionnaire was specifically designed to be very short and easy to answer.…”

Spatial Information Gaps on Deprived Urban Areas (Slums) in Low-and-Middle-Income-Countries: A User-Centered Approach

“…In general, user-centered approaches involve users in every step of a design, e.g., the design of an information system [35]. Such a design process includes context analysis, defining user requirements, designing solutions, and evaluation [36,37]. Putting users at the centre should ultimately reduce the digital divide and bridge communications gaps between local users and EO-researchers [19].…”