Getting the Picture: Examining How Feedback and Layout Impact Mobile Device Interaction with Maps on Physical Media

We present results from a study examining how visual selection feedback and map layout impact interaction when expressing spatial queries on paper maps using handheld devices. A sequence analysis of gaze patterns indicates that efficient queries involved a progression of visual attention from the paper map to the handheld device for a city street map with a grid layout, and a more balanced split of attention for a landmark-heavy city tourist map. Selection feedback emphasizing the most prominent aspects of a mappsilas visual layout yielded a large cluster of trials employing the more efficient approach for each map: a dynamic iconic list-view did this for the tourist map, versus a magic-lens map-view for the street map. Map layout correspondingly influenced the interaction technique chosen, such that continuous path selections were more frequent for the street map, while regional and discrete selections were more frequent for the tourist map.