Kevin MacDonald discusses the democratization of map creation, emphasizing that consumer needs should drive development and that innovation thrives when companies allow modification of their tools. He outlines key principles for effective mapping, including prioritizing mobile optimization and server-side data clustering, while also highlighting the importance of open data and adhering to usage licenses.

1. Anyone can
make maps
DevTO
30-Apr-2012
Kevin Macdonald
kmac@loxcel.com

2. Anyone
can cook
Chef Gusteau

4. Consumer
Maps
!= GIS

6. + AVM 2
+ AS 3
- Flex
= Wow

8. =

13. 5 seconds?

14. 3 seconds?
5seconds?

15. 3 seconds?
5seconds?
Instantly!

17. Total Transfer Size & Total Requests
Nov Feb May Aug Nov Jan
Apr httparchive.org
2010 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2012

18. “Small
Data”
Map

19. “Big Data” Map

27. Marker
Clusters

28. Marker
Attributes

29. 425,077 markers

30. Google Places
Autocomplete

33. We hadn’t intended to release a
[Maps] API.
It wasn’t something we thought
about.
Blew our minds right off our
shoulders.

34. Terms of Service
10.1.1 (c) No Reverse Engineering.
You must not reverse engineer,
decompile or otherwise attempt to
extract the source code of the Service
or any part thereof

35. Innovation is possible only when
companies let you tinker with their
creations. Too many good ideas are
squandered, he says, because the tools
needed to realize them are locked
away: "To this day, there are very few
technologies that are open."
Paul Rademacher

37. Recap:
1. Consumers’ needs come first.
2. Build for smartphone, then desktop.
3. Load instantly; render progressively.
4. Cluster Big Map data server-side.
5. Use Google Places Autocomplete.
6. Read licenses; consider open data.