Democratizing Hydrography: UX Practices for Communicating Hydrographic and Bathymetric Information to Non-Experts – A Scoping Review

The ocean, marine and coastal resources are essential for human life. However, they face growing threats from climate change and human pressures. Reliable hydrographic and bathymetric information is critical for addressing challenges such as navigation safety, coastal erosion, flood management, and habitat protection. Designing, delivering, and understanding such technical information for non-expert users remains a major challenge, though several methods and projects exist for communicating hydrographic information. Hence, this study aims to investigate how hydrographic and bathymetric information is communicated and evaluated from a user experience (UX) perspective. A scoping review was conducted, initially identifying and screening 587 studies. After reviewing 59 full-text articles, 10 met the inclusion criteria for the final review and data extraction. Some studies assessed how users perceive and cognitively interpret cartographic representations of surface-water features as hydrographic elements, while the remaining studies mainly emphasized tool development to communicate hydrography and bathymetry information. Studies focused mainly on usability and largely overlooked community stakeholders and non-expert users. The findings of our study reveal the need to better communicate advanced hydrographic expertise to diverse users, particularly non-experts, supporting their informed decision-making. This may contribute to smarter, more resilient coastal and urban communities.