Most maps today are experienced on interactive and web-enabled digital devices, yet much of the cartographic design canon was established for print or static maps. In this contribution to the GeoSemantics Lecture Series, I ask: what new meanings are possible with interactive maps and how can we discover these new meanings through empirical research with users? I begin by introducing influential frameworks on map semantics (meanings) and syntactics (structures) from visual semiotics, specifically the triadic model of sign systems and the visual variables, or basic building blocks of a map representation. I then extend this line of thinking on map design to user interfaces, proposing a composite taxonomy of “interaction primitives”, or the basic building blocks of a map interaction. I expand discussion of map interaction semantics and syntactics using MapStudy (https://github.com/uwcartlab/mapstudy), an open source survey tool that simplifies controlled experimentation and user-centered evaluation of interactive and online maps to investigate their underlying semantics and syntactics. Specifically, I review preliminary results from two empirical studies: The first evaluating how large social media datasets should be thematically represented on multi-scale web maps and a second assessing how vulnerable human populations should be depicted on interactive news maps. I conclude with some reflections on potential intersections and exchanges between GeoSemantics and User Experience Design (and the International Cartographic Association Commissions that approach these topics).

Bio: Dr. Robert Roth is a Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Director of the University of Wisconsin Cartography Lab. He currently serves as the Chair of the International Cartographic Association Commission on the User Experience. His research addresses design of interactive, online, and mobile maps, with specific emphasis on UI/UX (user interface/user experience) design, user-centered design and usability engineering processes, visual storytelling and data journalism, and collaborative and community-engaged mapping.