The user testing method was applied by organising two separate workshops. During the first
workshop the web mapping sites of Multimap, Google Maps and Map Quest were examined,
while in the second workshop were examined the web sites of MSN maps, Yahoo!
(European) maps, ViaMichelin and StreetMap. In both workshops the participants did not
have any GIS knowledge of exposure, while having different level of scientific background,
age and nationality. The first workshop was based on 20 users while in the second one only
10 users were recruited. This is because of the findings during the first workshop that after the
first 5 users, most of the identifiable usability errors and problems were recognised. The use
of small group of participants is also a common recommendation in usability literature
(Nielsen, 1994). In total, each participant performed 6-7 tasks, repeating them with all web
mapping sites.