Map animations versus static maps - when is one of them better

During the last decade the introduction of new techniques on World Wide Web has opened for increasing use of dynamic maps. However, it is still not fully known in which cases a map animation convey the information faster and better than a set of static maps, and the other way around, when the static maps will be the best choice. This paper is based on an experiment where some information was presented for a group of people as animations (without any interaction), while another group studied the same information as a set of static maps. Both the animations and the static maps were displayed for a limited time, and the participants answered some questions related to the displayed information. The groups are alternately introduced to animations or static maps. The experiment showed some tendencies that animations could be better in given situations. Especially small changes in the location of a phenomenon was better comprehended by an animation