Roberts M – INFORMATION DESIGN 2020

Description

The author advocates evidence-based transit map design, arguing designers must actively create and test map variants to identify generally useful principles rather than rely on historic conventions like the London map. They introduce a neutral Framework for Effective Design—five layout criteria: simplicity, coherence, balance, topographicity, and harmony—to judge usability without prescribing priorities. To explore solutions systematically, the author proposes a taxonomy based on levels of linearity (metro/rectilinear, hexalinear, octolinear, higher linearity) and non-linear schematisation (curvilinear, concentric). Different cities demand different rules; examples include a curvilinear Paris map outperforming the official octolinear version, Cologne’s concentric design, and hybrid circle/radial explorations for Moscow. Their methodology emphasizes matched-priority prototyping, user testing, and iterative scoring, supported by rapid-production workflows: site visits, topographic basemaps, parameter setting, early placement of station names, tackling complex interchanges first, building coherence outward, and final refinement. Empirical testing, not popularity, determines which design rules work best for each network.