Interaction pattern analysis for WebGIS usability evaluation

Abstract Web‐based geographic information systems (WebGIS) are increasingly common and accessed by various types of users. However, evaluating their usability is hard, as interactions with the map and provided functionality can be complex. We present a novel approach to remotely assess WebGIS usability and identify design flaws by logging user interface (UI) interactions and applying pattern mining techniques to the resulting datasets. We conducted an online user study with 40 participants in a realistic WebGIS scenario to validate the approach. The results show that applying this concept can provide insights into user strategies and can reveal usability issues, which can help to improve UIs for WebGIS. Designers can use the methods presented here to assess the usability of their WebGIS rapidly and at scale without carrying out expensive and lengthy in‐person user studies. This article also contributes to a better understanding of the challenges and limitations of remotely conducted usability evaluations for WebGIS.