The Inuit maps have the characteristics of Inuit art: solid, smooth, compact. The Polynesian charts are remniscent of Polynesian architecture: airy, lightweight, resilient.
Besides mapping wave interference patterns as they refract around islands (note the similarities between the second stick chart and the diagrams in [2]), the Polynesians also used "the stars [also using stick charts], driftwood, clouds, seaweed, winds, birds, weather, the smell, taste and temperature of the ocean, ... and the olfactory sense of an on-board pig."[1]
The most curious method however is with "te lapa," a phosphorescent phenomenon that appears as 'underwater lightning' pointing toward islands. The phenomenon is not fully understood even to this day, but it could be related to constructive interference of seismic waves.
Their development of sophisticated navigation makes sense from a business perspective. The Polynesians maintained numerous trading routes between islands, so there was a lot of technological pressure to develop better navigation methods. If even 10% of your boats didn't come back it would be disastrous for the endeavor.
[1] http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/friends/Technology_of_Oceania.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11320127
"...the Marshallese use stick charts, wood frames crosshatched like dream catchers to represent swells coming from four cardinal directions, with shells woven in to symbolize the position of the atolls."