T/MC use of GIS maps

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Comment by Daniel Bassill on August 26, 2009 at 3:42pm

Take a look at Mike's new article about how maps are being used.

Comment by Daniel Bassill on August 25, 2009 at 9:48am

If you like the maps we're creating and think they have value then I encourage you to help us raise donations so we can keep doing this. Please visit the "map a thon" page Mike has set up. If lots of donors make small contributions, we may find a few to make larger donations.

Comment by Daniel Bassill on August 14, 2009 at 9:45am

This is a map created using the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator. Once I created the screen view I wanted to convey my message, I saved the image using the "print screen" button, then pasted this into Adobe Photoshop. I cropped it, then saved it as a JPG, which I've posted here.

It took me less than 15 minutes.

I encourage others to use this tool to make a case for volunteer and donor support of tutor/mentor programs where you are. If you're not in Chicago you can still use these maps to demonstrate how leaders in your own community should be duplicating this process to help you help kids where you are.

Comment by Mike Trakan on February 23, 2009 at 1:23pm

Hi Taeho

This is some cool stuff you're doing here. Great ideas!

Just wanted to introduce myself:

I collect much of the data for the interactive maps, create all the static jpg maps from the office here, and have been working closely with Dan and Ganesh on the interactive project.

I document a lot of the work, and tell the stories behind the maps at:
http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/

When you get settled in, come around the corner and shoot me a "hi."

And of course I'm available for any questions, or anything you need while putting these projects in motion.

Good to meet you,
Mike

Comment by Rack Hyu Shin on February 23, 2009 at 1:21pm

Hello!
I am glad you have catched a lot of problems that I also felt that were needed to be improved. You seem to have a lot of knowledge on interactions and I hope you could use your talent to improve the issues below. I have a feeling that your work will give a lot of improvements.

Comment by Taeho on February 23, 2009 at 12:11pm

Hi, I'm from University of Michigan, Human-Computer Interaction. From today, I'm starting to work on "T/MC map strategy" project.
What has been done until now on this "T/MC Interactive Map" is so AMAZING. Four different maps are effectively showing Tutor/Mentor program locations visually.

Three things can be done to enhance overall User Experience of T/MC Interactive Maps.

1) Interactive Help Document
- These maps might be difficult to use for first-time users and someone who is not familiar with Tutor/Mentor programs.
- Help document is full of text and might not easy to read through for some people.
- "Interactive & Intuitive HowTo Guide" would be very helpful for those who want to use these interactive maps more effectively.

2) Usability Enhancement (through Heuristic Evaluations)
- First-time user of the interactive maps might be "OVERWHELMED" by a number of options they provide.
- User Interface of these maps should be very easy to use even for the first time users.
- Through usability evaluation, User Interface of these maps can be redesigned in a more "intuitive" & "straightforward" way.

3) Reorganization of Web-pages
- I talked about this with Dan. Blog is very good for posting different stories related to the maps, but not an adequate place to list up the links to those maps.
- There should be a way to connect these links and blog stories in a more efficient way.

These are just my first ideas on this project at the starting point. Any suggestions are welcome.