As map sites are unquestionably visual in their nature,
distractive advertisements and messy user interfaces were
criticised. A map that frustrates the user from the very
beginning may cause very negative feelings towards it.
Some of the users actually stated that in a real-life situation
they would have given up trying to complete the tasks with
some of these sites and tried another Web map. This is
important, as it may be that the product developer who can
design the most usable application, will win the battle for
market dominance.
Some of the Web maps have been in existence
longer than others, which may have biased the results of
this study. Some users may have been attracted by
newer ideas and these might have received more
positive comments because of that. On the other hand,
some of the users valued traditional types of services
because they are used to them. This was especially obvious
when the different search criteria of the sites were discussed.
Some people have been used to making Web searches with
search engines, and they also wanted to carry out map
searches in the same ‘free’ manner. Others needed more
structured or guided searches. The challenge remains to
design sites that different types of people can use without
getting frustrated or without facing a lot of problems in
using them.