Cartography based on community feedback

Those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook may have already seen the announcement of my latest and largest mapping project – the Melbourne Transport Map.

This will be a map displaying all public transport options within Greater Melbourne.

Community input

As this is such a large undertaking, I have decided to take a different approach to one that a designer might normally use. Rather than deciding key features of the map myself, it seems much more sensible to ask other people what they would like to see on such a map.

The short survey asks users a series of questions about preferred map attributes. Importantly, I have included a section  about priorities. This is because while there is an almost unlimited amount of information out there that could be included in a transport map, what should be included is a very different topic. This is not just about the limited space available but also about the intended purpose, audience and scope of the map.

Survey

Since releasing the survey last week, I have received over 90 responses. Thank you to everyone who has participated so far! It’s a great response rate and there has been a lot of useful feedback.

I will be keeping this open for a few weeks longer to allows others who participate. As Craig mentioned on Twitter, I am also interested in the views of non-transport nerds/gunzels, as the map is intended for use by as many people as possible.

Depending on how the process pans out from here, I may put out more surveys about more specific aspects of the map. This will become more relevant as I begin to develop drafts and specific concepts about what the map could look like.

I should also add that the survey is not a definitive referendum or vote on what is ultimately included – rather that this will hopefully make the final design useful and accessible to more people than would otherwise be the case.

Further updates

Updates will be posted on this site as I work through the project. I also hope to explain the thinking and process of making this map a little more, as well as publish some drafts once I reach that stage.

In the meantime, if you have not done so already, I would greatly appreciate filling out the survey located on the Melbourne Transport Map website.

As always, if you have any further feedback, suggestions or comments, please feel welcome to leave a comment below or otherwise contact me separately.