A click should create another question
Suppose I tap a place on the map.
The current place pages can show different kinds of information and then ask, “What connects to this place?” From there, a visitor may be able to follow deities, languages, communities, traditions, people and stories.
That is close to the original Culture Atlas idea: one thing should lead naturally to another.
Not every empty section should disappear silently
I noticed something else in the code. If language or story research is not ready, the page can say things like “Language research underway” or “Story research underway.”
I like this because an empty space now has meaning. The visitor can tell the difference between “there is nothing here” and “we have not finished this research yet.”
The order matters
A place could connect to many things. If I show all of them at once, the page might become a catalogue instead of an exploration.
I am starting to think the most important design question is not only what can I show? It is what should make you curious enough to click next?
One useful path is better than twenty random links
If I arrive at a place because I am interested in a story, perhaps the most useful next step is another part of that story's world. If I arrived through a language, maybe a community or tradition is a better continuation.
The database knows many connections. The interface has to turn them into a journey.
This is still a possibility, not a result
The code gives a visitor several paths from a place page. That does not prove visitors will notice them, understand them or choose the path I expect.
Until I observe real use, “one discovery leads to another” is a design goal, not a result.
Sequence changes understanding
The order of ideas changes how an argument develops in English. Chronology can reveal cause and change in history. Moving from one place to another can reveal a spatial pattern in geography. Culture Atlas can use the same idea: the next click should not be random. The sequence itself can help the learner notice a relationship.
A path through information can teach
Navigation is part of learning. The order in which I discover things can change how I understand the connections between them.
What I'm figuring out next
There is one problem with testing this myself: I already know what I meant when I built it. I need to think about what I would ask someone who has never seen Culture Atlas before.