Understanding Design with VGI using an Information Relevance Framework

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has the potential to offer benefits to end‐users over and above those of Professional Geographic Information (PGI). A multi‐methods approach, consisting of participatory observation, focus groups and diary studies, was used to study how VGI and PGI were actually used by a target user group. A theoretical framework of information relevance was used to understand the attributes of information that were most important in relation to the characteristics of the users' activity and their community. The key finding was that the discussion amongst GIS designers should not be whether to choose VGI or PGI as the information data set, but to consider which combination of VGI and PGI relating to different geographic features and task characteristics would best meet the users' needs. VGI is likely to be most relevant to the user when a geographic feature is dynamic rather than static in nature, and can also provide a level of detail that is unlikely to arise through PGI. These findings have implications for how different forms of information are most effective for different usage situations. Above all, a case is presented for the implementation of User Centred Design (UCD) principles when integrating VGI and PGI together in a single mashup‐based product.