» Glossary » Map VS Route
Bill Verplank considers one of the three main task a designer should define for the product is how the user would interact with it: does it need a global vision (map) or follow a sequence of steps (route)?
Route
Route interaction patterns would be:
- in videogames: the character can only move in a lineal way, as in SuperMarioBross – it may contain some shortcuts.
- in digital products: the checkout process in an e-commerce store, the parallax scrolling technique to get that rhythm in telling the story, or the system configuration screens.
- in the physical world: IKEA floor designs, o a self-service queue.
Map
Map interaction patterns would be:
- in videogames: some videogames, such as TheWitness, have an open space you need to explore, and you move according to your goals.
- in digital products: web sitemaps, blank pages for draw or writing applications.
- in the physical world: a supermarket floor design.
Comments
Some route interaction patterns are used to up-sell things to the consumer:
- It’s reported that 60% of purchases at Ikea are not the things that people had on their shopping list when they came in the first place, which may be influenced by the route pattern the user is forced to follow.
- Ryanair has recently started to sell complementary products (hotel, car rental, etc) in its checkout process.