Zerdly

Map Purpose and Audience Checklist

Turns a map's purpose, audience and medium into a design brief with measurable review questions, adding public, technical and hazard checks as needed.

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How to use this calculator

Project and review scope

A design brief and review record for one map: what it is for, who reads it, on what medium, and how you will test that it works. It records decisions and evidence; it does not grade the map.

Design brief

Built from the project details and the fields above. Blank facts show as Unknown.
  • Note: 4 of the four core decisions (purpose, decision, audience, medium) are still Unknown in the brief.

Review status: Not reviewed

Review progress 0 of 13 applicable rows verified (0%)

Outstanding critical findings

  • Decision the map supports identified — Not started
  • Source limitations and review questions recorded — Not started

Review rows

8 row(s) do not apply to the project settings above; they are hidden but kept in the record.

Purpose and decision

0/3 verified

  • Single clear message defined

  • Decision the map supports identified

    Critical

  • Decision and intended audience documented

Audience

0/2 verified

  • Audience and their expertise known

  • Detail level suited to the audience

Medium and viewing

0/2 verified

  • Output medium known

    Print, screen, mobile, large format.

  • Medium and final viewing size declared

Content and hierarchy

0/3 verified

  • Only data that serves the purpose

  • Appropriate scale and extent

  • Information hierarchy and legend needs recorded

Symbology and accessibility

0/2 verified

  • Accessibility considered

    Colour-blind-safe palettes, legible text.

  • Symbology matches the message

Sources and limits

0/1 verified

  • Source limitations and review questions recorded

    Critical

Add your own row

Keep, share and print

Nothing leaves your browser. Saving on this device is optional and only happens when you press it.

How to use this calculator

  1. Write the map's single message and the decision it supports, then choose the audience, medium and whether it shows safety or hazard classes.
  2. Add the final viewing size, reading distance, information hierarchy and legend needs. The design brief and its review questions build as you type; edit the preview if you need to.
  3. Copy or download the brief, then work through the rows — the audience, medium and hazard choices add the checks that apply.

How it works

A public audience adds plain-language uncertainty and non-colour symbol checks; a technical audience adds CRS, datum, units and measurement checks; hazard classes add a critical “not by colour alone” row. Print, static web and interactive web each get their own deliverable check. Rows hidden by a later change keep their records.

The brief is assembled from your inputs with no AI, and anything blank stays Unknown. Its review questions ask for something you can record — how many test readers stated the message, the smallest label size at the final size, the method used for a greyscale or colour-vision check.

No map quality grade is computed. Review progress is verified ÷ applicable rows and “Ready for reviewer” is your declaration.

Worked example

A public flood map. Purpose: show which streets may flood; decision: whether to prepare to evacuate; audience: General public; medium: Interactive web map; hazard classes: Yes. The checklist adds plain-language uncertainty, symbols that work without colour, hazard classes not shown by colour alone and an interactive zoom/keyboard check. The brief asks test readers what the map is for and records what besides colour distinguishes each hazard class. A technical survey brief instead keeps the CRS, units and measurement questions.

Frequently asked questions

What has actually been checked?

Only what a person marked Verified, with the evidence they recorded — the brief records intent and test questions; it does not look at your map. Everything else stays Not started, Action required or Unknown — the checklist never marks a row as checked on its own.

Can I use my own project requirements?

Yes. Write your own purpose, audience and test plan; add rows for any client style or accessibility requirement. Add your own rows (they get stable IDs), and mark rows that do not apply as N/A with a reason — an N/A without a reason still counts as unresolved.

Does a complete checklist prove the work complies?

No. “Ready for reviewer” is your declaration that the applicable rows are verified and nothing critical is open. It records design decisions and tests, not a guarantee that readers will understand the map or that it meets any accessibility standard.

Is this official course material?

No. It is free study support mapped to surveying course levels — not official North Metropolitan TAFE content or advice. Always follow your lecturer and the official assessment brief, and check your own working.

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Cite this tool

Zerdly. (2026). Map Purpose and Audience Checklist. Retrieved from https://www.zerdly.com/tools/map-purpose-and-audience-checklist/

Tip: Enter any known values to calculate the remaining results.

Designed to run locally in your browser. Tool inputs are not intentionally stored by Zerdly unless stated otherwise.