Should buttons on map be icons?

[jimsafley]

Icons take up less space than text, which is important on small devices. Finding icons that carry the same semantic weight as their text equivalents will be tricky.

[kimisgold]

Let's start thinking about how much will be on the interface. These are the elements I know of thus far:

• Filters
• Toggle historical map
• Center to my location

If possible, I'd suggest regaining some real estate by removing the zoom buttons if possible. At this point, pinch-and-zoom is one of the most widely-known mobile device interactions, so I think the button set is unnecessary.

[jimsafley]

I'm all for removing the zoom buttons on mobile devices, but I still see their usefulness for desktop users, particularly the ones without scroll wheels, bless their hearts.