Evaluation of the usability of web services with interactive maps

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usability of web services incorporating interactive maps. The research combined objective eye-tracking analysis with subjective user assessments in a two-stage experiment involving 31 participants. The participants completed a series of tasks using five variants of a university campus map, grouped into three categories: a 3D Map, Street View maps, and Leaflet maps. Quantitative results indicated that 2D maps demonstrated higher cognitive efficiency and intuitiveness, reflected in shorter fixation times and more structured visual search patterns. In contrast, survey findings revealed that the 3D map achieved significantly higher levels of perceived satisfaction and overall user appeal. The discrepancy between objective performance and subjective preference highlights the importance of balancing functional efficiency with visual attractiveness in the design of interactive web maps. The findings provide practical guidelines for developing more usable and user-cantered web services featuring interactive cartographic interfaces.