What is the Definition of a Map?

One of the first questions when studying data representation is to understand what exactly is meant by a particular term, in this case, a “map”. Most dictionary definitions are visual centric emphasizing a visual representation (Opens a new tab), drawing (Opens a new tab), or flat surface (Opens a new tab), but I like the definition by Wikipedia (Opens a new tab):

“A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.”

Let’s break this down:

1. “symbolic depiction”: This means the map doesn’t show the exact location, so it’s not showing real-world information.
2. “emphasizing relationships between elements”: This means that it is what is between objects and how objects interact that’s important.
3. “of some space”: This third definition is saying that the spatial relationships between objects is what is important.

These can be summarized into three words: symbolic spatial relationship. These three elements need to be true in order for there to be a “map”. Without symbolic spatial relationships, what is being shown is not a map. Map reading requires different skills than other kinds of graphics, as the human brain needs to be able to translate the information on the page into a spatial representation in their mind. This is because maps convey special information that is unique from other representations, they show space.

Let’s take some examples of different representations to find if they meet the map definition:

Here is a description of Google Street view (Opens a new tab):

“Street View stitches together billions of panoramic images to provide a virtual representation of our surroundings on Google Maps.”

Let’s see how it fits this definition of a “map”:

1. “symbolic depiction”: Since it is using images from the real world, one could argue what you are seeing is real and not symbolic, although the images are only showing the real-world at a particular point in time. So I would say no, it is not a symbolic representation, but this could be arguable.
2. “emphasizing relationships between elements”: Since the pictures are stitched together and not super detailed, it seems like the point is to view multiple objects and not just one object, so yes, it meets this definition, although one could use Google Street View to only focus on a specific item.
3. “of some space”: Since the pictures are of the earth and show shapes and sizes of the different objects and how they are positioned in the world I would say it meets this definition as well.

Tactile maps use raised lines, textures, and braille to diagrammatically represent areas or locations (e.g. cities, countries, neighborhoods, college campuses, museums) (Opens a new tab).

1. “symbolic depiction”: Braille, raised lines, and textures are all symbols.
2. “emphasizing relationships between elements”: This definition of a tactile map is vague on this element, but the lines and textures represent roads, buildings, or other map features on the tactile map, so yes, since this is not a diagram of a specific object and of space instead, the relationships are important.
3. “of some space”: All the examples above are of particular spaces, so again yes, the tactile map meets this criteria.

Any display of information in tabular form, with rows and/or columns named (Opens a new tab).

1. “symbolic depiction”: It could be, if we’re using numbers to represent COVID statistics, then yes.
2. “emphasizing relationships between elements”: Many tables allow you to sort the information and filter based on different criteria, and this process of interacting with the data emphasizes some of the relationships, so yes.
3. “of some space”: I have never seen a data table that shows a spatial element, so no. It is very difficult to put any kind of spatial representation into a cell of information, and I have only seen it done when there is a description of maybe bordering counties or states, such as in this paper (Opens a new tab), and they didn’t find it very effective, so I would say no.

According to Wikipedia, turn-by-turn navigation or directions (Opens a new tab) is when “directions for a selected route are continually presented to the user in the form of spoken or visual instructions”.

Let’s see how it fits this definition of a “map”:

1. “symbolic depiction”: Yes, speech is symbolic, so “turn right in 10 feet” requires the user to comprehend several symbols, including “right”, “10 feet”, and the English language.
2. “emphasizing relationships between elements”: This has a “yes but” answer. Although turn-by-turn directions do show the relationships between the legs of a route, normally maps show more than just a route. If a map only showed a single route at the fidelity of turn-by-turn directions, it would be a single multisegmented line on a clean white background with labels for both the start and end locations (since those are normally the only features that are labeled on the directions). So yes, it shows the relationship between these two features, but no, it doesn’t show the relationship between all the surrounding features or provide any context of the general layout of the map.
3. “of some space”: No, there is no spatial element to the directions other than the symbolic representation of space given in the “in 10 feet”. Since only the features themselves can be symbolic, the space needs to actually be present for there to be a map.

The auditory experience of Audiom presents vector data around the user so they can move a character through a virtual environment and hear the name and sounds of objects as they move a user-specified distance over and between objects (Opens a new tab).

1. “symbolic depiction”: The name and sounds of objects as well as the vector aspect of the data are all symbolic, so yes.
2. “emphasizing relationships between elements”: You move over and between all objects present in the map, and can get the distance, direction, shape, size, orientation and general layout of all points, polygons, and lines, so yes.
3. “of some space”: You are moving a character through an environment that has space, and instead of hearing “10 feet”, you are actually moving in an embodied way that distance, so yes.

The definition of a map is important when trying to distinguish between different kinds of representations. If a representation does not meet the three criteria of: symbolic depiction, emphasizing relationships between elements, and of some space (symbolic spatial relationships), it is not a map. This definition is also useful when attempting to identify “technically acceptable solutions available in the marketplace” (Opens a new tab)  when looking for products that comply with section 508 of the rehabilitation act, or to evaluate the most accessible solution according to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Send our team an email if you have turn-by-turn directions, tables, another alternative that doesn’t meet the definition of a map, or just a visual map, and you want a compliant inclusive digital map (Opens a new tab).