The “Base Map” is a cartographic product of the Swiss NMGA1 swisstopo. It sources and combines data from various partners and received a 2025 Map Award from the International Cartographic Association (in German / in French).
In a recent article, Swisstopo covered the process through which an early map design has been improved collaboratively:
Last summer, we conducted a large-scale survey on the swisstopo app and the new Base Map. Almost 5,000 users took part and shared their experiences with us (…) Overall, the Base Map received very positive feedback. (…) At the same time, there were some critical comments: the main complaints were about performance on older devices, long loading times and pale colours, which make it difficult to read in bright sunlight.
And:
The survey wasn’t just an exercise – it was the starting point for concrete changes. (…) Many of the points and suggestions have already been implemented.
Two things to note:
- The process is a (very) mild case of crowdsourcing, but still: I appreciate the approach and the diligent accounting of the implemented changes through a very nice animated and interactive scrolly-telling map showing “before” and “after”.
- Even subtle tweaks can bear significant influence on usability.
If you’d like to see the before-and-after map full-size rather than as an iframe, you can look at it as a stand-alone page.
Footnotes
National mapping and geospatial agency↩︎