July 2020 Summaries

An analysis of the curbside pickup experience in retail reveals that optimizing customer acquisition costs, reducing shopper wait times, and right-sizing in-store staffing can lead to significant savings and efficiency improvements. By integrating with a Mapbox-powered system, retailers can decrease customer wait time from eight to two minutes through automation and alerts, and reduce staffing requirements from five to 3.8 employees per store for 40 pickups per day. The study emphasizes that curbside pickup should be viewed not just as a cost-saving measure but as an extension of the brand experience, ensuring the same level of service and product quality as in-store purchases. The Mapbox curbside architecture aims to maintain this brand consistency by automating processes such as timing the preparation of orders to align precisely with customer arrival. Additionally, the architecture is designed to be accessible for business owners, allowing them to tailor the service to their specific "fry drop moments"—critical points in the customer experience that need to be preserved. The release of a curbside architecture guide and source code aims to assist businesses in implementing an efficient curbside service, with support available for further customization or troubleshooting.

Labels on maps are both functional and aesthetic, enhancing the connection between geographical features and the viewer, and creating custom labels in Studio is straightforward. The process involves creating a new dataset, drawing lines to define the shape and position of labels, adding text properties, and exporting the design for use in Mapbox Studio Styles. After setting the label placement, users can style their labels with various fonts, colors, and text-spacing options to match their aesthetic or brand. Studio offers built-in fonts and the ability to upload custom fonts, and additional features like text transformation and halos can further enhance label visibility and design. The guide encourages experimentation and sharing of creative labeling techniques on social media.

Retailers such as Tillamook and Blue Rhino are enhancing customer engagement and store traffic by utilizing custom maps tailored to their brand, facilitated by StoreRocket Store Locator and Cartogram. These tools allow businesses to create unique map styles by simply dragging and dropping an image, such as a company logo, into Cartogram, which then integrates seamlessly with StoreRocket to embed the map in various platforms like Shopify, Webflow, SquareSpace, and Wix without any coding required. Users can manage locations, set up filters, and access analytics through the StoreRocket dashboard, providing a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to improve their online presence and customer interaction.

The text introduces a creative method to highlight locations on a map using a "glass disc" effect, designed to make points of interest stand out without obscuring the underlying area. The effect is achieved through a three-step process in Mapbox Studio, involving styling circles with specific colors, opacities, and strokes to create the appearance of glass discs that align with the map's plane. To enhance visibility, a glowing effect is added beneath the discs by duplicating the layer and using a bright color with a blur. Additionally, custom or built-in icons can be layered on top to symbolize different points of interest, allowing for customization across zoom ranges and data conditions. This technique is presented as a fun and engaging way to experiment with map design and highlight specific locations or features effectively.

The New York Times is actively mapping COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States at the county level to provide granular data that helps local officials manage medical surges and social distancing measures. The mapping includes visualizations of total cases and deaths, as well as per capita rates, facilitating the identification of hotspots and disparities across different regions. The U.S. is experiencing its highest number of known cases globally, with over 3,000 deaths reported on the deadliest day of the pandemic, highlighting the challenges faced by hospitals in securing protective gear and by political leaders in deciding how to reopen the economy. This data is compiled by a team of journalists working across time zones, and it is made publicly available on GitHub.

EarthRanger is a software tool developed by Vulcan Inc. to assist protected area managers and rangers in monitoring wildlife and combating poaching through real-time data. Since its inception in 2015 in response to the poaching crisis highlighted by the Great Elephant Census, EarthRanger has expanded its use to 80 conservation areas across 22 countries, offering capabilities such as GPS tracking, heatmaps for patrol efficiency, and geospatial context for data-driven decision-making. With a team of 18 professionals working globally, the platform supports conservation efforts by providing actionable insights into animal behavior and ecological changes, and real-time alerts for threats. Designed with user needs at its core, EarthRanger facilitates rapid response in time-critical situations without requiring extensive technical infrastructure, thereby respecting resource constraints typical of remote protected areas. The platform's latest upgrades, such as an update to Mapbox GL JS, enhance its analytics and visualization capabilities, while ongoing partnerships emphasize its commitment to evolving conservation challenges and technological integration.

OpenStreetMap, with its comprehensive global coverage, serves as an invaluable resource for creating high-quality visual maps and navigation services, facilitating detailed block-by-block urban analysis. Three recent research projects exemplify its potential: the University of Chicago's Million Neighborhoods project uses OpenStreetMap data to highlight accessibility challenges in informal settlements, revealing areas underserved by infrastructure; McGill University's SprawlMap analyzes street network patterns to illustrate the accelerating trend of urban sprawl globally, with implications for CO2 emissions and social isolation; and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy's Pedestrians First initiative utilizes the data to assess walkability in cities, identifying both urban centers and informal settlements with strong pedestrian networks. These projects underscore the significance of OpenStreetMap in urban planning and highlight opportunities for improvement in data coverage, while the annual State of the Map conference offers a platform to explore these uses and contributions further.

The "Mapping the Black Lives Matter Movement" project, spearheaded by Frank Romo and Malcolm MacLachlan of RomoGIS, aims to document the widespread protests calling for justice for Black lives by utilizing geospatial technologies to highlight social justice issues. The initiative involves creating an interactive map to visualize and capture the scale and diversity of the protests, collecting data from reputable sources and local news to ensure comprehensive coverage, even in smaller cities often overlooked by national media. The map allows users to contribute by adding protest locations, news sources, and images, turning it into a dynamic repository that reflects the global scale of the movement and fosters discussions about race and activism. Built with Mapbox tools for efficient mobile access, the project seeks to inspire continued activism and invites further collaboration from data scientists and social justice activists to support and empower local communities.