03
01
PROBLEM
02
Current
UI FLOW
Highlights
Need to be improved
Information shown on
the homepage
There are some apps related to city exploration including trendy recommendation platform Yelp, travel platform TripAdvisor and social platform Facebook.
Competitive
Analysis
2
Travelling platform
Advantages
one-day activity, recommended traveling route
Disadvantages
limited target users, less flexible when users want to change plan
3
Social platform
Advantages
Sharing feature, huge customer base, social impact, events recommendation based on your friends’ choices. Detailed information about the events
Disadvantages
limited information and resources. No map.
1
Recommendation platform
Advantages
Reservation, delivery, best platform for foods and ratings.
Disadvantages
Tons of information, random layout, lack navigation, no waiting time.
04
uSer Research
1
User Interview
In order to understand users' experience using Google maps, I interviewed three Google maps users.
Name: Jason Cui
Age: 23
Software engineer @ MSFT
-He is an adventurous person loving exploring the city even taking the bus.
-He is a veteran user of Google Maps.
-He helps review beta versions of software, like Windows operation systems
-He is also a new driver
I use it for navigation, looking for places to eat and play, finding places to go for a visit by tapping randomly on the map, I don't like following travel tips.
What do you use google maps for?
Have you ever noticed "Explore" function?
Yes, actually I used it for finding places to eat sometimes. However, I haven't really explore this function a lot, like I never notice "Event" and "List" before. It seems that the explore is more like a search bar for me.
Information in Google maps is detailed and latest (unlike Yelp). I am also able to know how long I need to wait using "popular times" shown in the description page. At the same time, I can save places with different colors and see my timeline, the places I visited and time I spent there. However, these two functions hide deeply in the lower hierarchy
What do you like about the "Explore" function?
Too much information in one page, sometimes I don't really want need all of them, like the phone number and website. However, the most important information like reservation, estimated waiting time and parking information is often put in the bottom of the page.
What do you dislike about the "Explore" function?
How do you choose places to visit? What factors do you value?
I will check the 3D map of the places, if I think it is beautiful and attractive for me, I will navigate to the place directly. I think more reviews and videos may help make decision
Name: Jerry
Age: 25
Student
I use it for navigation, finding places to eat and make travel plan.
What do you use google maps for?
Have you ever noticed "Explore" function?
I think I have used that before, however, I don't know exactly what it for. I think it can recommend places to eat and visit.
What do you like about the "Explore" function?
It is very convenient for me to select recommended restaurant nearby and most importantly I can see where they are on the map, it helps me determine whether the traffic is good or not.
What do you dislike about the "Explore" function?
I don't really like the way it shows on the page, you have to pull it out to see the entire page, I never do that. Also I think there is too much recommendation in one page, I think it's better to set up my own preference. I only use it in Seattle, I don't think it is easy for me to do travel plan when I visit a new city.
How do you choose places to visit? What factors do you value?
I think it is better to go to place I can go with friends, I don't want to do things alone. Also because I have lived in Seattle for years, I love to explore the places I never been to or recommend new routes for me. Pictures and reviews also help.
-He lives in Seattle more than 8 years, he knows everywhere in Seattle now.
-He loves road trips.
-He is a veteran driver and google maps user.
Male
Male
Name: Amelia
Age: 28
Freelance designer
-She is a museum lover and she loves going to art events.
-She is a new driver and she has lived in Seattle for 2 years
-She is not a veteran google maps user.
How do you choose places to visit? What factors do you value?
I actually seldom use it, I think the catalog on the page is limited and the recommendation and events are not based on my preference. I think if the recommendation card can pop out itself for me instead of being waited to see, it can increase users' chances to use google map.
What do you dislike about the "Explore" function?
Sometimes I use it for select the restaurant nearby by tapping on the map and I have used the search bar on the top. I think google maps enables me to select the places in best location.
What do you like about the "Explore" function?
I have noticed before, I know the that, but I feel like the interface is not comfortable to use and the tag bar bottom is small and vague.
Have you ever noticed "Explore" function?
I only use it for navigation and transportation information
What do you use google maps for?
Female
Summary
Most of the time, I love to go to the place with my friends because I don't drive too often. I joined an art group in facebook and we sometimes go to art event together, and I will go to the event they mention.
1/ They all think it is too much to put all the information in one page and app.
7/ It is better to pop out recommendation based on current location and preference. Users can set up their preference with more detailed choices.
2/ One advantage of Google maps is that users can see location of the places on the map immediately.
3/ It's better to enable users to make travel plan, save places in this app in an easier way.
4/ Friends' recommendation, group activities and rewards from Google maps encourages user to explore new places.
6/ Photos, videos and more information of the places help users to make decisions.
5/ Show all the information in a more ordered way based on users' rank about the importance
2
Quick Survey
In order to understand what information and functions are most important to users, I conducted a quick survey to let participants rank different information.
06
05
When you use google maps to search for a place to eat, please rank the information you value most?
1/ brief introduction of the restaurant (reservation, photos
2/ Direction / navigation
3/ rating/reviews
4/ Estimated waiting time/ Popular time
5/ Open time
6/ Parking information
7/ How long will you spend here
8/ Phone/Website
Design Features
UI Flow Design
Brainstorming sketches
07
Initial UI design
In order to do usability test, I drew some of the most important pages during the hackathon
1
UI Interface 1.0
2
Usability Evaluation
I implemented the first UI design on Google Pixel, and conducted 4 usability test with an old pixel phone.
“I love the idea of collecting stamps!!”
“Adding sounds as background music, that's very interesting!”
"Rearranging the sequence of the information is a good point!"
Likes
1/Homepage is neat and simple.
2/Love the stamps, they tell me where I haven't been to.
3/The new app pages look similar to original Google maps pages, so it is easier to use.
4/Putting popular time and waiting time on the top of the page is very smart and convenient for me.
5/Showing today travel route in time sequence is clear and I can arrange my time better with this.
Improvement
1/I didn't really know what the stamp means at first, and I am afraid there will be too many stamps in the page and I can't see the map.
2/For the category page, I think it's better to only show the categories instead of showing the content at the same time.
3/I don't know what the sound button means, having a text may help.
4/I don't need to know what the popular time is, I just want to know how long I should wait now.
08
final ui interface
