For example, somebody went to a ton of work to make a zoomable map for the series, except they eliminated the ability to zoom very closely or get any information when you drill down. It’s like a GPS system that tells people on the Interstate approaching a city, but then doesn’t tell them what exit to take or how to find their final destination.

The Post somehow thought their map would be helpful, but they needed to realize it’s a waste of a user’s time unless they can deliver a complete system.

There’s a lot of information there, and I can’t make sense of it. But maybe I’m not very smart…

I feel like this thing either needs a brief overlay tutorial to explain (particularly at the drill-down level) what it is I’m looking at, or it just needs to be simplified. At the same time, I get the sense that if I considered it long enough, it might be effective. My initial conclusion is that it’s relying too heavily on mouseovers where I’m expecting to just be able to look at it. Comparisons are difficult when I can only see one item (via mouse over) at a time. For example, without mousing-over what is this diagram in the middle? :http://projects.washingtonpost.....echnology/

Nonetheless, this is a topic I have some interest in, so maybe I’ll keep staring at it…