The map products in the academic libraries context include
three types: save a map, share a map online, and download a map
in graphic format. The save-a-map option is limited to the same
user login. The map URL or option to embed the map into a web
page allows users to share the resulting map online with others
even if they do not have access to the application. The download
option allows users to insert the map into their documents, or share
with others. Table 4 lists the available map products in each
application.
In the usability evaluation, we asked participants to export the
map from each application and save the result to a local computer.
The task results (Table 5) revealed some design issues in this function.
Participants took much longer to download the map in PM,
because the export function is under the button labeled “Print” and
most participants expected this button to physically print the map.
Some applications (e.g., BAO and PM) took a considerable amount of
time to generate the PDF file and showed a notification when the file
was ready. Participants tended to ignore the notifications because
they were too subtle in the interface. Fig. 2 shows the downloadable
link notification from BAO. Almost all the participants ignored the
link and clicked the OK button to close the dialog.