Natural Legend Design for Thematic Maps

Abstract

The legend of a thematic map is crucial to the map interpretation process because the reader depends upon it to decode and comprehend the map symbols used. The symbol dimensions and patterns in the legend should be as identical as possible with those used on the map to avoid confusion and reduce inefficiency in the information communication process. Re-designing standard legend formats so that legend symbols are seen in a visual context more closely resembling their actual situations within the body of the map may significantly improve the efficiency of map information processing. An experiment was conducted to determine whether map reading performance efficiency could be improved using a 'natural' legend design versus a standard or conventional legend design.