Project summary

'Flightmapping.com' tracks and charts air traffic to and from the UK. During a period of redevelopment for the site, we were brought in to build a brand new interactive mapping system.

Aims

The redevelopment of flightmapping.com saw renewed focus on the map tool. The requirement was to replace the currently ageing static mapping system with a flexible, dynamic system that could be populated automatically from their database.It had to be easy to use with a slick, modern interface that would get the user to the data they were looking for quickly and efficiently.

Result

We began by pairing the concept of a map-based flights searching tool right back to its simplest form. We removed the need for panning and zooming controls, instead allowing the map to auto pan and zoom to encapsulate whichever routes are currently being filtered and displayed. We distilled the number of user controls down to only what was needed and discarded any extraneous mapping functionality that wasn’t necessary. Our goal was to minimise the number of steps a user had to take to find the flights they were looking for and then give them a direct link to the booking page for that flight.

Structurally, we implemented a system that would dynamically plot airports globally (based on their GPS coordinates) and draw all flightpaths on the fly. The whole idea here was to create a zero maintenance mapping system that would shift and change all its routes and figures with the database automatically.

When the new website launches, our map will be sitting right at the heart of it as a testament to the revitalised, user-focused and modern flightmapping.com vision.

Mark Avery

Managing Director, Flightmapping.com