Day: December 14, 2016

Finally, this last map derives from a decision map that blends preference trees (no pun intended!) with pros-and-cons and satisficing decision techniques. The general question for this map is one that relates to me personally, as I currently live at home and have about a half hour commute to school. I’ve wondered frequently where I’ll end up living once I graduate from college, and so I found it calming to be able to draft out the major categories, or decisions, I would face, and the paths that each choice would take me to.

This map is presented in a fun “checklist” manner, where you assess each sub-decision individually, and at the end compare how many of the apartment avenues were checked compared to the houses.

Needs versus Wants is a map that reflects a financial study on Tony Pierce’s bill statement from September 2015 to August 2016. It is meant as a spread in a book, and this particular spread divides several categories of expenses into two broad categories: necessities and luxuries. then, those categories are divided in subcategories so that Tony Pierce can see at a glance what his largest, and smallest, expenses are should he need to start managing his finances!

The most enjoyable part of this particular map was the icons, and the color scheme. I find that blue and orange color schemes are easily recognizable and subtle enough to draw the audience’s attention in, and I was proud with my ability to make distinct icons that are unique from one another and clear representations of their categories.

This map is a compilation of the local bookstores in south Austin. By local, I restricted the geography to where highways 183, 290, and 71 intersect, since I don’t like going places in Austin without knowing where I’m headed, and I like to stay close to places I know I can navigate easy, such as SoCo near St. Edward’s, and I-35.

For each of the twelve nearby locations, I visited each and considered online reviews to give them ratings on three criteria. The first was whether or not they had a cafe, and what the selections were like. While I don’t drink coffee, I do enjoy other cafe selections and the smell of coffee brewing, and having a cafe is such a classic cliche for bookstores that I love. My second criteria was what the environment, or atmosphere, of the store was like. I wasn’t going to want to repeatedly visit a bookstore that is loud and crowded with staff that don’t know much about what they’re selling. I prefer the quiet, laid-back ones with friendly knowledgeable staff who really know their books. And, lastly, I rated the stores on whether or not they had WiFi and how quick it was, for surfing, streaming, or studying.