[Sigia-l] Isometric vs. Flat Sitemaps

[Christopher Fahey [askrom]]

> What are the advantages and disadvantages to isometric
> sitemaps? 

The answer to this is pretty simple, IMO: Isometric maps take a lot more
time to make and they look really cool, but they contain no more
information than a "flat" map (in quotes because, unless it's a hologram
or a VR map, isometric maps are flat too). If anything, the skewed text
they often have makes them harder, not easier, to read.

Isometricness should be thought of as a *visual style*, roughly
equivalent to selecting a color scheme or a font. It's like using
diamond shapes instead of squares. 

I personally dislike isometric maps because they encourage inappropriate
spacial metaphors ("this page is behind that page and to the left of
that other page")... That said, they might be worth it if the cool
sitemap gets a client excited about the project ... or if the appealing
style encourages the curious end user to examine the diagram further. 

A risk is that people will notice "you spent more time on the style of
the map than the substance". If I could spend 4 hours on a site map, or
1 hour plus 3 hours isometricizing it, I'd pick the former.

-Cf

[christopher eli fahey]
art: http://www.graphpaper.com
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