[Murdodc089]

I'm going to have to disagree with many of the other comments and say that this is a very well designed website. In my opinion, it's the optimal way to present this data in an interactive format short of a presentation from someone in the same room. Large amounts of geographic data that covers as large an area as the search for MH370 did, is not easy to present.

Very cool.

[tangue]

I’ve I said earlier I’m primarily a webdesigner and not against animations etc But this is poorly executed.

Here’s (almost) the same concept, with a far better UX :

https://tympanus.net/codrops/2015/12/16/animated-map-path-fo...

As a user here’s my main gripes when comparing the two UIs :

- The map in tympanus is in svg. Lighter, see how the interaction is always in sync with the user interaction ? Why using tilze at maps if you can’t zoom ? You’re lazy loading but I’m not lazy reading.

- The text flows naturally : you need to choose either you build a powerpoint with bullets either you write more elaborate content. This UI is more appropriate to bullets but is displayed with a powerpoint type UI because of …

- Scroll hijacking : everyone not working in a webagency hates it. Even your boss who tells you that (s)he finds it cool hates it when they need to use it.

…And the stock video of water isn’t bringing much (but that’s another debate)

The only good piece of news is that the UI seems to be open-source (though bound to external services) so if you want to punish your users or improve the whole thing : https://github.com/Esri/story-map-cascade

But as I’ve also said earlier people died in this crash and families are still looking for explanations and I don’t find this way to narrate the events appropriate. Maybe I’m old school and should just say to my relatives : If I die in a tragic fashion please don’t let any webagency and government agency do parrallaxes on the circumstances of my death and its side effects

[Murdodc089]

I don't have a background in webdesign so I cannot speak to the inefficiencies of how this is put together. I do, however, have a background in GIS/Geography and from that perspective I still maintain that this is a great way to present the timeline of events and information gathered. It's an especially great way to present the data for a layperson who

A) has a passing interest in geographic/oceanic/general data topics and

B) doesn't really care how efficient the UI is because they don't live in that world on a daily basis

That said, I also have the opinion that not all websites HAVE to be optimized for mobile viewing. There are instances, such as this one, where the data/information being communicated does not lend itself to mobile and therefore should not be compromised.

To your last point, I think I understand the direction you're coming from, but I have to disagree with the final argument you make. Just because a lot of people died in a tragic accident doesn't mean that we cannot celebrate and utilize information that is a direct result of that tragedy.

The designers of the linked site are not celebrating the deaths of these people, they're sharing and marveling in the data that was produced as an unexpected secondary and tertiary result of those deaths. One does not preclude the other and, I would argue, it would be a disservice those who died to NOT share and learn from the data produced.

[oori]

here's another scrolling variant using canvas: http://global.blackyak.com

[fhood]

On a laptop with no mouse it is just frustrating though. It also makes it nearly impossible to skim.