Mapping the Global South: Equal-Area Projections for Choropleth Maps

Abstract

Choropleth maps are among the most common visualization techniques used to present geographical data. These maps require an equal-area projection but there are no clear criteria for selecting one. We collaborated with 20 social scientists researching on the Global South, interested in using choropleth maps, to investigate their design choices according to their research tasks. We asked them to design world choropleth maps through a survey, and analyzed their answers both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results suggest that the design choices of map projection, center, scale, and color scheme, were influenced by their personal research goals and the tasks. The projection was considered the most important choice and the Equal Earth projection was the most common projection used. Our study takes the first substantial step on investigating projection choices for world choropleth maps in applied visualization research.

Mobile and Multimodal? A Comparative Evaluation of Interactive Workplaces for Visual Data Exploration

“…During the two-year collaboration, we co-designed web-based visual tools to explore their data (e.g. [MLLB20]). Furthermore, we observed that many of the experts owned and used a tablet at work to take notes and draw diagrams.…”