The Missing User in Cartographic Thought

There is a wealth of theory on how to make better maps, dating to antiquity (Barber & Harper, Magnificent maps: power, propaganda and art. The British Library, 2010), yet map use has long been under-theorised; the first formal theory to include end-users emerged only in the early 1900s. Since then, discussion of how to include end-users in the design process, and on how maps operate within use has flourished—albeit following a tradition that has neglected any wider social consequences of such use. By charting the development and diversification of cartographic thought over time, this chapter outlines its differing conceptions of map use and users. It compliments the socio-technical history of digital maps discussed in the previous chapter by adding various concepts and strands of thought, referred back to in later chapters. It starts with academic cartography and descendent map-communication models. It then traverses cartographic thought-steeped cognitive-behaviouralism, semiotics, analytical cartography (the foundation of GIS), critical cartography, mobile media studies, and platform capitalism. Throughout, it finds a sustained lack of concern for theorising engagement with digital maps beyond the moment of use, highlighting it as a critical gap in thought that persists today, limiting our knowledge of how extensively digital maps feature in the constitution of everyday life.