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Map Design: Why the Magnifying Glass is a Terrible Symbol for Zooming-in

5 pointsby j053003about 15 years ago

4 comments

bradbeattieabout 15 years ago
Perhaps more appropriately titled "How map software could be more consistent with the magnifying glass metaphor".
arantiusabout 15 years ago
What a pointless misunderstanding.<p>They're all simply better than the metaphor. Obviously a physical magnifying glass held over a piece of paper cannot create or remove information, only scale it.<p>"Zooming in" in software, however, involves a complete replacement. And at every level, the most(/best) set of information is displayed. When zoomed out at, i.e., Miami, the word "Miami" displayed at a readable size covers up nearby towns. When zoomed in a bit, there's more small towns that can be displayed (collectively covering up Miami).<p>Moreover: this is probably even the right/best thing to do. At a wide zoom, you probably want the big cities as landmarks. Slightly tighter in, one is more likely to be familiar with the area, and want to know the smaller details. Tight enough again, Miami is the only thing left in view, so it is labeled.<p>This is not broken, or bad in any way.
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InclinedPlaneabout 15 years ago
See also: is the magnifying glass a symbol for zoom or for search?
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wlievensabout 15 years ago
IIRC this behaviour can be controlled with SLD's in GeoServer.