Assignement Week 1 – Part 2

  • Badly-designed map

In my opinion the NTU Campus Online Map has some critical design flaws, especially when using the search function.

The reason why I chose this map as an example is because I got lost on the first day when following this map. As you can see on the screenshot, I was looking for the Lecture Theatre number 13 with the “Search” tool. As a result a pin appears on the map revealing the supposed location of LT13 (A). On the map it seems to be on the same floor as all the other labelled Lecture Theatres (LT1, LT19A etc.…). However LT13 is located on the 4th floor, alongside LT14 and other lecture theatres. There is no indication on the map that tells us that it is in fact on the 4th floor and not on the 2nd floor like LT1.

To get this information, you have to look at the bottom left corner of the page (see part circled).

Online map of the NTU Campus
Online map of the NTU Campus

As I was unfamiliar with the campus and in a hurry, I had no way of knowing this and finally had to go find a physical map of all levels of the building in order to find my Lecture Theatre.

In my opinion, the map should be redesigned as to show the real level of the classroom/lecture theatre and not only one floor (the 2nd).

  • Well designed map

An example of a well-designed map in my opinion (although it is not a map of a building) is the map of the sports facilities at NTU.

In fact, it contains all the essential pieces of information one might be looking for. The location of the facilities is very clear and each facility is labelled. There are drawings to symbolize which sport is practiced on it, when there could ambiguity (Rugby / Football on the multi-purpose field).

Furthermore the color-code is efficient because it attracts the eye and the association of colors are somewhat natural (swimming pool in blue, fields in green and multi-purpose courts in a more neutral color).

The Sports Facilities Map
The Sports Facilities Map

In my opinion, this map is much more efficient than a non-schematic one.