WHAT A Flare Cluster is a spatial visualization pattern used to reveal individual or categorized map points within dense clusters—without losing sight of the overall distribution. Instead of merging overlapping markers into a single dot or a count label, a flare cluster fans out selected data points in a radial layout. This reveals more about […]
WHAT The blue dot pattern allows mobile users to see their current location in a map to understand their surroundings. Blue dot is specific to mobile apps where movement and change in position of the user’s device is expected. Tracking this movement means that the user can focus on their task without expending energy to […]
WHAT The floor selector pattern lets the user switch between floors or levels in a 2D indoor map. The floor selector, sometimes also referred to as level selector, floor picker, or floor filter, becomes an essential UI control providing a means to toggle between floors and gives visual feedback on the currently selected floor. WHY […]
WHAT The offline maps pattern uses offline maps that can be downloaded to a user’s device to provide access to data when the need arises. They are useful when the user needs access to data in areas in which the internet is slow, mobile data is expensive, or the user cannot get online. WHY Offline […]
WHAT The feature selection pattern uses selected features on the map to create a subset from all the available features. It helps shift the focus from the whole collection of features to the ones that are relevant. WHY Selecting items is a common input mechanism to gain further insights into the associated data. The goal […]
WHAT The attribute filter pattern reduces large datasets into more meaningful and manageable selections based on attribute criteria. WHY Filters are omnipresent in modern apps and, like search, are the most important mechanism to find the data that best suits a user’s needs. Search aims at finding a particular place, object, or group of objects […]
WHAT The extent-driven content pattern synchronizes content in the UI with the map extent. It describes how the map can be used as a dynamic spatial filter that updates other content on the page as the map extent changes. WHY Data can be visualized in many ways. The most common visualization components are charts, tables, […]
WHAT Show objects that are in close proximity to your current location or a place of interest. WHY Users have a deep interest to know what is happening around them. Showing them the location of nearby objects has therefore immediate impact on decisions they may want to take, e.g. if a friend is nearby they may want […]
WHAT The info panel pattern provides for the display of long or interactive content that doesn’t fit into the small space of an info pop-up or that must not obstruct the map. WHY The info panel is, like its cousin the info pop-up, an important UI component to display information about an object on the […]
WHAT The rich marker pattern extends simple markers on the map to show a key metric, performance indicator, or other important information. WHY Sometimes the color, size, or shape of a marker is not enough to depict the information a user is looking for. Although this information can be accessed through the info pop-up that […]