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Spatial and Geospatial Thinking in System Design. What’s this all about?.
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What’s this all about? • Methods used for the development of non-spatial systems are often insufficient for designing spatial (and geospatial) systems because “normal” software development methods fail in the treatment space in the design process. • But, what the heck is space?
Spatial Thinking • The spatial context is critical because it ultimately determines a user’s perspective and need. • It’s never simple; there are actually three spaces contexts: • Physical space • Life space • Intellectual space
Spatial Thinking (Cont) • Physical space is also built on the four-dimensional world of space-time, but focuses on a scientific understanding of the nature, structure and function of phenomena. • This is cognition about space and involves thinking about the ways in which the "world" works. • An example might be how an earthquake creates a tsunami. • Lots of GISs work in this space.
Spatial Thinking (Cont) • Life space is the four-dimensional space-time where spatial thinking is a means of coming to grips with the spatial relations between self and objects in the physical environment. • This is cognition in space and involves thinking about the world in which we live. • It is exemplified by navigation and the actions that we perform in space. • A number of GISs work in this space.
Spatial Thinking (Cont) • Intellectual space is in relationship to concepts and objects that are not in and of themselves necessarily spatial, but the nature of the space is defined by the particular problem. • This is cognition with space and involves thinking with or through the medium of space in the abstract. • An example might be the territorial dispute between two ethnic groups. • Few GISs work in this space.
Geospatial thinking • Geospatial thinking is simply spatial thinking related to the earth.
What information gets stored? • Attributes - A property inherent in an entity. • e.g., John runs a 6 minute mile. • Activities - A unit of work performed by an actor. • e.g., John runs between Old Main and Beaver Stadium.
Why? • People perceive what they expect to perceive • New information is assimilated into existing mental models • Conflicting information is often dismissed or ignored
The bottom-line • Since all people observe the same information with inherent and different biases • We need a safeguard – a design method that: • State assumptions • Show chains of inferences • Consider alternative points of view • Documents D