A fascinating article from O'Reilly Radar on the development of KickMap, an innovative map of the NY subway system. In it, the designer, Eddie Jabbour, writes a personal and engaging history of the NY subway system map and his self-imposed project to redesign it. Much of what he writes is applicable to any kind of visualization of topography and location based information, but he admits to designing from the political perspective of wanting people to take public transport rather than their cars. Jabbour is painstaking in following the experiences of potential users of his map; something of a classic story about information design with a purpose.
