Aris Venetikidis: Making sense of maps

Summary

The speaker, a graphic designer of Pontic Greek descent, explores the concept of cognitive mapping in city navigation. He discusses how humans simplify routes and attach personal meanings to landmarks, drawing parallels to the schematic design of transport maps like London's Tube map. Frustrated with Dublin's public transport maps, he creates his own simplified model to improve clarity and usability, emphasizing the importance of coherent, visually accessible maps for effective wayfinding.

Takeaways

• 📚 The speaker is a graphic designer who organizes information and makes sense of complex matters.
• 🌱 His ancestry includes Pontic Greeks, an ethnic minority with a history of migration, which has influenced his own life.
• 🧠 He has a half-German background, which has contributed to his analytical thinking and demeanor.
• 🚶‍♂️ The concept of migration is a recurring theme in his family and personal life, including moving to Dublin 12 years ago.
• 🗺️ He discusses the cognitive process of mapping a new city, starting with a home base and creating a mental map of the environment.
• 🔍 Humans simplify city layouts in their minds, perceiving streets as straight lines and turns as 90-degree angles, despite actual complexities.
• 🏙️ Dublin's public transport system is criticized for lacking a coherent and simplified map, which the speaker believes is crucial for understanding and usage.
• 🛤️ The speaker and his colleague, James Leahy, propose a simplified model network for Dublin's public transport, focusing on rapid transport corridors and clear visual distinction from local buses.
• 🎨 He created a map of Dublin's public transport system, applying schematic design principles to make it more comprehensible and visually appealing.
• 🚌 The map includes all transport modes, station names, side streets, and some landmarks, aiming for a balance between representation and simplification.
• 📈 The project highlights the importance of geographic distortion in public transport maps to aid in wayfinding, as opposed to strict accuracy.

Q & A

What is the speaker's profession?

The speaker is a graphic designer who specializes in organizing information.

What is the significance of the speaker's heritage in relation to their work?

The speaker's heritage as part of the Pontic Greeks, who experienced migration, influences their perspective on making sense of complex systems and navigating new environments.

How does the speaker describe the process of adapting to a new city?

The speaker describes the process as creating a cognitive map in one's brain, which involves finding a base, building an understanding of the environment, and navigating through linear routes and turns.

What is a cognitive map, and how do humans use it?

A cognitive map is a mental representation of an environment that helps individuals navigate. Humans use linear routes and simplify turns to 90-degree angles to navigate through cities.

How does the speaker compare human navigation to that of animals like dogs and bats?

The speaker notes that while animals use scent marking or ultrasonic squeaks for navigation, humans rely on linear routes and cognitive mapping without such sensory cues.

What is the importance of attaching meaning and emotions to landmarks in the cognitive map?

Attaching meaning and emotions to landmarks helps individuals to personalize and remember the environment better, filling their cognitive maps with markers of significance.

How does the speaker describe the process of creating a public transport map?

The speaker describes it as a process of simplification and schematic design, where less important information is omitted, and the map is designed in a way that reflects how the brain processes information.

What is the significance of the London Underground map in the context of the speaker's talk?

The London Underground map is highlighted as an iconic example of schematic diagram design that simplifies and distorts geographic accuracy for the sake of clarity and ease of use in navigation.

What challenges did the speaker face when trying to understand Dublin's public transport system?

The speaker faced challenges with the lack of a coherent and simplified map, which led to confusion and difficulty in navigating the system.

What was the outcome of the speaker's attempt to create a simplified public transport map for Dublin?

The speaker created a map that applied schematic design principles, showing rapid transport connections and local bus routes, but ultimately realized it was a failure as a practical map due to the complexity of the city center.

What is the key takeaway from the speaker's experience with creating a public transport map?

The key takeaway is the importance of designing maps in a way that reflects the brain's natural way-finding processes, with simplification, straightened lines, and geographic distortion where necessary.