feature channels and visual search

This is the Metro Taipei (like Bart over here) in Taiwan, Taipei. Each Line is categorized by using visual research method on colors. Red color is the most obvious color in this map. The one colored in red is the main line in the Taipei Metro. The interesting part is that if today I don't understand Mandarin nor English, will I still able to recognize some information on this map? Probably, yes. The end and start stations are annotated in solid dots, which have the meaning of end station. It is pretty straight forward and clear to understand. The transit stations have higher visual hierarchy than the end/start stations and they are marked like in different symbols and colors, which make them stand out even more so than start/end stations. Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/monhsi/1896193715/