The information architecture of services providing information on air quality in Poland

What is it about?

The paper discusses the issue of elements of information architecture used within popular websites dedicated to information on air quality in Poland (Airly, Air GIOS, aqicn.org, Plume Labs Air Quality Map, Breezometer, European Air Quality Index). The author analyses the layout of the maps and the occurrence of filtering tools, the results applied to individual zones' air quality information in different areas of the country, and examines their variation across platforms. In the conclusions, she attempts to answer the question of the unification of the naming of such elements and the structure of their occurrence (grouping within a service) and their impact on the transparency of air quality information messages. The results compared to international guidelines known as WHO Air Quality Guidelines, EU Ambient Air Quality Directives (AAQDs) and the Eionet (European Environment Information and Observation Network) guidelines.

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Photo by Hayden Walker on Unsplash

Photo by Hayden Walker on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Research on information related to air quality is still in its infancy, as it is a new field of research that is worth looking into. This study, due to its short timeframe and purpose, this study fulfilled its role, as it allowed the identification of the most functional website, which will constitute a source of reliable information for the study related to the author's dissertation work. At the same time, an interesting issue worth continuing this research may be an attempt to identify the realisation of the idea of information and media ecology in the presentation of information on air quality on web services websites.

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