Are you tired of being stuck in traffic or taking the long way around to reach your destination? Are you tired of having to ask for help or stop your car to make route changes?
Let's make your driving experience more fun and efficient by creating a system that provides you with the best route options and allows for real-time location sharing, so you can focus on the open road and enjoy the ride!
Overview
The Problem
Google Maps is one of the leading navigation tools for people worldwide. However, users are sometimes frustrated that it doesn’t always provide the most efficient routes and options for them to get to their destination. Location sharing and real-time updates and editing are limited. Some of them have to use other applications to achieve the sharing goal.
The Solution
Me and my teammate redesigned Google Maps by adding new features to the app. The app allows users to plan trips and edit them in real-time within the Share Mode. With these improvements, users are able to communicate more efficiently with their friends and families and reach their destinations. These enhancements help users to be more efficient with their time and plan their routes more effectively.
Category
UX Design
My role
UX Researcher, UX Designer
Tools
Google Drive, Photoshop, Figma
1
Research
Competitor analysis
2
Synthesis
User Stories
User Journey map
Persona
3
Design
Wireframes
Prototype
Convenience
With just a single tap, drivers can give passengers access to their real-time location and allow them to adjust their route.
Transparency
This feature provides complete transparency by allowing passengers to track the real-time location of their driver, enabling them to accurately estimate the driver's arrival time and easily locate the pickup location.
Safety
To prioritize safety, this feature only allows passengers to make changes to their route with the approval of the driver. This design is influenced by the well-established practices of platforms like Uber, where updates are made through a submission process rather than in real-time to ensure the integrity of the trip information
RESEARCH
🗺️ User's Journey Map (Sharing list)
🤔 Heuristic Evaluation
HIGH
New list is not accessible to users (Recognition rather than recall)
The system does not have the capability for real-time sharing of location among individuals within the list.(Flexibility and efficiency of use)
Real-time location sharing is hidden deeply.
(Visibility of system status
Once a trip is underway, users are unable to make any modifications to their planned trip.
(Limited user control and autonomy)
LOW
The system is not displaying the recently edited bundle at the top of the list, which may cause confusion for users.
While Google Maps has the capability for both real-time location sharing and creating lists of destinations with others, the current system does not offer the ability to combine these two features together.
It takes some time for users to figure out where the real-time location sharing features are located. Some users are unaware of this feature.
Users are not able to edit or create justifications for the existing list.
Persona, Scenario and User Flow
Since Google Maps is used by people all over the world, I wanted to make sure that the new features could be widely used as well. I created 2 very different personas that have different needs, but that are common among the majority of users. These personas and their scenarios helped inform the rest of the design process.
Competitor analysis
DESIGN
Wireframe
Wireframes Referring to the User research and personas, we studied the app’s architecture and screen layouts in order to create a logical and intuitive user flow for the new features. Then I designed wireframes with the new features added while adhering to Google's Material Design guidelines.
Final Prototype
The new features are integrated into the existing architecture and user flow, making the redesign familiar and easy for users.
IMPLEMENT SUBTLE APP IMPROVEMENTS
The challenging part of this project was to figure out how to implement the features without changing too much of the existing app architecture while maintaining the seamless user experience. As a widely used app across the world, it was important to implement the changes without disrupting the experience that users have come to expect.
UTILIZE EXISTING RESOURCES
From this project, I learned a lot about Google's Material design system and its guidelines. By using existing resources and tools, I can apply the learnings into future design projects.
