Just to document Peter's email from February 16, 2021. Some of these have been implemented, below is verbatim.
Identifying and Querying Features
-Show a global, overhead view of languages by world region instead of requiring users to choose a specific language from that region.
-Users should have the ability to toggle on and off language groups and languages from a geographic level of their choice.
-Define map symbolization, color schemes, and language categories.
-The category "Local" and its symbol do not intuitively suggest census data. "Local" is also misleading since it refers only to NYC.
-Users should be able to hover over a dot to see the language and estimated size of speakers.
-A print function would be useful.
-Allow users to query on one than one language. Currently the ability to select more than one language is limited to what is queried in the dropdown boxes. This will allow users to compare and contrast languages that may not fall under the same category.
-A hover pop-up with essential information would be useful. Some users may want a quick overview rather than a detail description of the language.
-Selecting "clear features" does not always clear the query. A larger "clear" button on the home page would also improve this feature.
-Icons at the bottom of the selection box should also display the tab's title, instead of only showing the title once the icon is selected.
-The Census Language Data layers need a legend.
-The full extent of the map isn't clear unless you seek it out-regional data could get overlooked.
-In the Explore tab, it is not so clear how to go back or "reset" your exploration. After I had selected one neighborhood I wanted to go back and select a different neighborhood, but when I clicked the explore tab again it just showed the same neighborhood I already selected rather than resetting. Fixing that, or an explicit "reset" or "go back" button would help.
-When you show by status, it would be great to have the definitions of each community status appear in the legend, or when you click on each legend item. I found the definitions in the help section eventually, but would be good if they more readily available.
-The Data tab's filter ability is very useful, but clearing filters does not actually clear the filters on the map until you click "view on map" again. This confused me, I initially clicked "clear filters" and then closed the data tab, but the map did not change how I expected.
-The Help section contains the answers to many questions and problems I had, but it could be a little bit more visible. Maybe instead of the small question mark button on the upper right corner it could be a larger tab on the bottom bar (next to Details).
Visualizing
-Using dots to represent where a language is spoken is problematic for two main reasons. First, the size of the dot does not change to reflect how many people are estimated to speak a language. It gives equal weight and area to all languages. Second, users may potentially infer dot locations as precise locations of the phenomenon being mapped.
-Turning on labels automatically, instead of defaulting them off, when the map is showing more sparse information would be more functional.
-The title takes up an unnecessary amount of real estate. Place title over the legend so not to obscure languages.
-In the default view, showing languages by world region, it is difficult to interpret exactly what each point on the map represents, as in each point could represent a community of language-speakers in the vicinity or just an individual or household of speakers. This is partially resolved by changing to view by size, but then you lose the helpful regional color-coding. It would be most helpful to view both size and world region color-coding at the same time.
-Parts of the map seem underrepresented. For example, there is a cluster of Southeast Asian languages in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, but no other language communities around for many blocks in all directions. Knowing this area, I would suspect many more language communities to be present that haven't yet been identified for this map. I recognize this is just a function of the ongoing work needed to identify communities across the region, but it has the side-effect of making some areas appear more sparse, or represented only by the communities that made it into the map so far, when other communities may exist alongside.
-I would love to be able to toggle on other boundaries, like Congressional Districts, City Council Districts, School Districts, etc. Also would be great to toggle on subway stations and library locations. Wondering what was used for the NYC neighborhood boundaries layer that is toggleable in the Local section. Have never seen these boundaries before, wondering if it is custom for this map, or was pulled from somewhere else.
Zooming and Panning
-Automatic zoom and tilting after users select a language spatially decontextualizes the data and makes the map more cumbersome to use. Closing the "details" tab should reset the tilt and zoom to the level users were using before clicking on a language.
-Selecting "home" should reset view, rather than requiring an additional step for the user to reset the view.
-Enable a “Go Full Screen” button
-Map tilting is not always the best way to visualize the data.
-I found it odd that the map view tilts/pitch changes when a point is selected. It was not clear to me why the pitch changed and it was also unclear how to reset the pitch (eventually I located the "rest pitch" button, but it is too easy to miss). The pitch should automatically reset when you close the details tab.
Just to document Peter's email from February 16, 2021. Some of these have been implemented, below is verbatim.
Identifying and Querying Features
-Show a global, overhead view of languages by world region instead of requiring users to choose a specific language from that region. -Users should have the ability to toggle on and off language groups and languages from a geographic level of their choice. -Define map symbolization, color schemes, and language categories. -The category "Local" and its symbol do not intuitively suggest census data. "Local" is also misleading since it refers only to NYC. -Users should be able to hover over a dot to see the language and estimated size of speakers. -A print function would be useful. -Allow users to query on one than one language. Currently the ability to select more than one language is limited to what is queried in the dropdown boxes. This will allow users to compare and contrast languages that may not fall under the same category. -A hover pop-up with essential information would be useful. Some users may want a quick overview rather than a detail description of the language. -Selecting "clear features" does not always clear the query. A larger "clear" button on the home page would also improve this feature. -Icons at the bottom of the selection box should also display the tab's title, instead of only showing the title once the icon is selected. -The Census Language Data layers need a legend. -The full extent of the map isn't clear unless you seek it out-regional data could get overlooked. -In the Explore tab, it is not so clear how to go back or "reset" your exploration. After I had selected one neighborhood I wanted to go back and select a different neighborhood, but when I clicked the explore tab again it just showed the same neighborhood I already selected rather than resetting. Fixing that, or an explicit "reset" or "go back" button would help. -When you show by status, it would be great to have the definitions of each community status appear in the legend, or when you click on each legend item. I found the definitions in the help section eventually, but would be good if they more readily available. -The Data tab's filter ability is very useful, but clearing filters does not actually clear the filters on the map until you click "view on map" again. This confused me, I initially clicked "clear filters" and then closed the data tab, but the map did not change how I expected. -The Help section contains the answers to many questions and problems I had, but it could be a little bit more visible. Maybe instead of the small question mark button on the upper right corner it could be a larger tab on the bottom bar (next to Details).
Visualizing
-Using dots to represent where a language is spoken is problematic for two main reasons. First, the size of the dot does not change to reflect how many people are estimated to speak a language. It gives equal weight and area to all languages. Second, users may potentially infer dot locations as precise locations of the phenomenon being mapped. -Turning on labels automatically, instead of defaulting them off, when the map is showing more sparse information would be more functional. -The title takes up an unnecessary amount of real estate. Place title over the legend so not to obscure languages. -In the default view, showing languages by world region, it is difficult to interpret exactly what each point on the map represents, as in each point could represent a community of language-speakers in the vicinity or just an individual or household of speakers. This is partially resolved by changing to view by size, but then you lose the helpful regional color-coding. It would be most helpful to view both size and world region color-coding at the same time. -Parts of the map seem underrepresented. For example, there is a cluster of Southeast Asian languages in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, but no other language communities around for many blocks in all directions. Knowing this area, I would suspect many more language communities to be present that haven't yet been identified for this map. I recognize this is just a function of the ongoing work needed to identify communities across the region, but it has the side-effect of making some areas appear more sparse, or represented only by the communities that made it into the map so far, when other communities may exist alongside. -I would love to be able to toggle on other boundaries, like Congressional Districts, City Council Districts, School Districts, etc. Also would be great to toggle on subway stations and library locations. Wondering what was used for the NYC neighborhood boundaries layer that is toggleable in the Local section. Have never seen these boundaries before, wondering if it is custom for this map, or was pulled from somewhere else.
Zooming and Panning
-Automatic zoom and tilting after users select a language spatially decontextualizes the data and makes the map more cumbersome to use. Closing the "details" tab should reset the tilt and zoom to the level users were using before clicking on a language. -Selecting "home" should reset view, rather than requiring an additional step for the user to reset the view. -Enable a “Go Full Screen” button -Map tilting is not always the best way to visualize the data. -I found it odd that the map view tilts/pitch changes when a point is selected. It was not clear to me why the pitch changed and it was also unclear how to reset the pitch (eventually I located the "rest pitch" button, but it is too easy to miss). The pitch should automatically reset when you close the details tab.