Elizabeth Laraki, the Google Maps UX Design Lead from 2007 to 2009, shared the story on X about how Google Maps was capable of overcome the road identify downside in India and turn out to be a dominant participant within the nation.
Laraki’s LinkedIn profile states that she led the worldwide design workforce for Google Maps (throughout US, Australia, Switzerland, China, and India and labored on integrating map view for native outcomes, critiques, driving, transit, strolling instructions and extra.
Google Maps launched in India again in 2008 however the firm rapidly confronted an issue distinctive to India. As Laraki explains avenue names had been the muse of Google Maps however that rapidly turned an issue for the corporate in India.
Laraki says Google Maps instructions turned ‘just about ineffective’ in India with many streets not having names or having a number of names or not being recognized by their official names.
Google Maps then had the choice of assuming that its present navigation system was ok for India and it could get higher or individuals may ultimately adapt to it however the firm as a substitute needed its product to thrive in an enormous potential market.
The answer:
Laraki notes that the corporate knew that many communities all over the world used landmarks fairly than avenue names for navigating and it was additionally true for India.
What adopted afterward was a ‘nimble on the bottom area analysis’ aimed toward understanding how individuals in India use landmarks and what sorts of landmarks had been good for navigating.
The analysis by Google Maps revealed that Indian use landmarks in a number of key methods together with:
a) Orientation: instance ‘Head in direction of the water’
b) Flip description: ‘Flip previous the mall’
c) See if they’re on the right path: ‘You will note a petroleum pump on the correct’
d) Error correction: ‘You will note xxx location, you probably have gone tooo far’
Google Maps then used parks, monuments, procuring facilities, notable buildings, and petrol pumps to assist individuals verify their route and error right.
The modifications introduced by the Google Maps workforce in 2009 helped the corporate turn out to be the ‘dominant navigational product for India’.
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Up to date: 02 Nov 2023, 11:56 AM IST
