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The example for maps is not a "hyper specific use case": "The process you WANT: pick your start and end. now start searching for places in between. Your start

• sonofaplum 7y ago
  Why do you think that use case is that common? And why do you think google maps should elevate that particular use case above other competing use cases?
  • feanaro 7y ago
    How would not erasing information when you move the map compromise the current use case, though?
    • sonofaplum 7y ago
      Because especially on mobile, screen space is insanely valuable, and if you want to show new information from the new area the map has been moved to you often need to remove "stale" information.
      • feanaro 7y ago
        Sure, but it could just as easily be a button to clear this information explicitly or it could just be hidden, but not deleted.
    • darren_ 7y ago
      it wouldn't, which is why the complaint in these tweets ("drag the map even a pixel? it erases all your results and closes the infobox you were looking at") is, in fact, not something that happens. give it a go.
  • jimmaswell 7y ago
    Gas station or McDonald's on the route to some far destination. I've done this in the android app and it works but it can be a little awkward.
  • raisedbyninjas 7y ago
    Search for destinations along your route is (finally) a feature in the gmaps mobile app. It isn't in the web-app. Apparently Google agrees that it is a desirable feature. Why does the UI-limited, small screen experience surpass the rich desktop experience?
    • bruckie 7y ago
      You can do it on the desktop app, via the add a stop feature. If you add a stop and then enter a search term ("coffee shops"), you'll see matching results along your route. (IIRC it doesn't show you the added travel time like the mobile app does, though. Maybe that's what you're referring to?)
    • iterati 7y ago
      Finally? I've been searching for things along my routes since at least the 2017 Eclipse as that's the first time I can remember using the feature on my trip from BC to Oregon.
  • hyperdeficit 7y ago
    I hadn't even thought of this specifically, but after it was mentioned in the initial post I realized just how much that is my use case most of the time and how often I am fighting with google maps to accomplish what are relatively simple tasks like adding an additional point along a route. If you are trying to add multiple additional points on a route it gets even worse. This is all much worse on the Android app as well, where it makes the assumption that your use case is to get from where you are right now to somewhere else. Trying to get from point A to B, where neither is where you are now, is unnecessarily frustrating.
    • JoeSmithson 7y ago
      I just tested this and it works as follows; - Open Maps - Search destination. It autocompletes after about 5 characters - Select destination - Screen changes to infobox about the location. There is a prominent "Directions" button - Press "Directions" - It changes to a route view, the Start is autocompleted to Current Location but obviously editable - Press into start location edit box - I can type location or "Choose on map" This process requires essentially the minimum possible information from me (I want directions, from A, to B). What is frustrating about it?
      • eitland 7y ago
        That is 9 or so manual steps and it doesn't become clear until step 7 or so that it can even be done! There's nothing intuitive about this and when someone knows how it works that must be because they've either learned it from someone or kept on experimenting with it until they figured it out. compare this to the original that they "simplified" away: - Open app in navigation mode (step 1) - it shows two boxes, where you are going from and where you are going to - fill said boxes. There is a button next to from to choose current destination. (step 2 and 3) - click get directions (step 4) Compared to the current "simple" version it is immediately clear and there are fewer steps and less things you need to know.
        • gowld 7y ago
          Obviously it's fewer steps if you combine some steps into 1 when paraphrasing.
  • scotty79 7y ago
    Because if you plan to travel far you often want to plan a stop along the way to eat, use the toilet and refill anf maybe rest a bit in some hopefully interesting place.
  • frobozz 7y ago
    I have not conducted a survey, but they strike me as reasonably common desires. On a 4-5 hour road trip, I want to take the kids to see a castle or something somewhere around 1/2 to 3/4 of the way. Even just wanting to have lunch somewhere other than Hilton Park or Newport Pagnell would be such a use case. I have also wanted it for visiting someone - I'm going to their house, what is my most convenient option for buying some wine and/or flowers on the way? I have wanted it when I've been away from home and have a big time gap between finishing my planned activities (or having to check out of my hotel) and my train or plane departure. What is the best way to spend a few hours that is anywhere on the route from here to the airport/station.
    • PaulHoule 7y ago
      I think there is an anti-car bias in Google Maps and similar services. Everything is oriented around the model of "reserve a hotel", "reserve a flight", like you really are on rails like a European. Today's online maps aren't up to the freedom that motorists have to make small deviations from a route. For instance if I drive from here to Boston I am likely to stay at a hotel en-route, that could be anywhere from Albany to Worcester. I don't have strong feelings about where, but it might be nice to find a good deal or find a place that I think is cool. Thus I am interested in searching along a tube around my route, not clicking on cities like Springfield and running a search at each one.
      • gowld 7y ago
        Google Maps shows search results annotated with how much time they add as a detour.
      • WanderPanda 7y ago
        Wouldn't agree with regard to Apple Maps being "anti-car" when there isn't even a bike mode. Walking- and car-mode are unusable for cycling, with car-mode taking bad routes for cyclists and walking mode giving directions way too late, when a cyclist is already on/past the crossing.
      • T-hawk 7y ago
  • UI_at_80x24 7y ago
    Selecting/Creating waypoints has been a digital mapping-feature of every service/tool I have used since digital mapping/navigation became a thing. From garmin hand-held off-road GPS topo navigation systems to units used for fishing to hiking/biking. It has been a cornerstone of digital navigation since the things were invented. To claim that it's an edge-case ignores history and instead highlights how _you_ use the tools. IMHO it was more obvious that Google wants to you 'actively search' for $waypoint item while enroute instead of pre-planning. "hey google, show me restaurants near me" That gives them a better way to monopolize on advertising and forced $ from companies in order to stay relevant and appear in those type of searches.
    • zelos 7y ago
      Search along route is surprisingly hard to get right. Results near to the route geographically are not necessarily near in terms of disruption to your route (other side of a river, wrong side of a highway etc.) To add to the "things are getting worse" narrative, we implemented this properly back in the days when sat navs were still relatively exciting things. Last I saw the algorithm was to do a lightweight route plan through nearby search results and find the ones that made the smallest difference to your arrival time at your final destination. I don't think the google maps search API does that yet, although I haven't worked in the area for quite a while.
      • iterati 7y ago
        The Android app will show you how much each search result along the destination will add to your route. It also shows the gas prices if you're looking for fuel.
  • myself248 7y ago
    This is exactly what I usually want to do with maps. I have a route I want to plan, and I want to do more than one thing along my route, or see what else is in the area. It's futile in Google Maps. I see no reason that supporting this thing that old mapping software used to support would elevate it "above" other use cases. If you just want a single route, you do one search and you see the result and you never click the "add" button, no problem. I should dig out an old Delorme Street Atlas CDROM and install it in a VM, to get some sense of how many clicks it took to do the things I used to do. I don't think it was many. It was definitely pickier about address entry; that's one place Google has absolutely improved. But aside from that, it was way more powerful at pretty much everything else.
    • aurbano 7y ago
      Not trying to just nitpick, but if we assume that the Google Maps use research and data from users when planning features then the feature you're after may actually not be very common. And your answer to someone asking "Why do you think that use case is that common?", your first line literally just talks about your use case from your point of view: > This is exactly what _I_ usually want to do with maps. _I_ have a route _I_ want to plan, and _I_ want to do more than one thing along my route, or see what else is in the area. It's futile in Google Maps. I'm not saying that wouldn't be useful, it's just that maybe not that many people need it... I guess it was built with the idea that you would just open more tabs to search other things?
      • chimeracoder 7y ago
        > if we assume that the Google Maps use research and data from users when planning features Based on what I've seen from Google product design, this is a pretty bold assumption. While Google has access to unfathomable amounts of data collected from users, it's more than happy to eschew that if the data conflict with higher-level product or company strategy decisions, which generally are much less motivated by raw user data,
  • deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  • TeMPOraL 7y ago
    Because it's a map. That's what you do with maps. You browse them, you study them, you mark them up. I use Google Maps almost daily and this is also my complaint. It's not a hyper-specific use case. Google Maps are good for navigating from point A to point B when you are sure of both, but they suck at being a map. For instance, lack of always-on street names and weird POI handling makes them problematic to use when you want to explore the area you're in.
    • notyourday 7y ago
      I disagree. That's what we used to do with a map because we did not have information available at our fingertips. We would study the map ahead of time, based on the map figure out our plan of action by either making mental notes or notes in notepad, or notes on a map and eventually execute our plan based on the information we have selected. We no longer need to do that. We can decide "I want to do something around X" , go to X and when we want to do something specific ask maps "Where can I find Y around X"? Ability to drop pins removed the need to study map to complete most of the tasks. When one stumbles upon something interesting while reading a book, watching a show, scrolling through eater, one can drop a pin on a map so next time that person is in the area the pin is there!
      • TeMPOraL 7y ago
        Repeatedly searching and dropping pins in Google Maps is like eating your dinner by pulping it and drinking through a straw. Studying a map ahead of time and marking it up (on the map itself, as we did with paper maps and dry-erase or permanent markers) is a more efficient interface. There's this forgotten principle in UI that users can mentally filter out noise and focus on relevant parts very good; that's what our sense of sight is optimized for. Having to actively search whenever you need to know something is an inferior experience, both in terms of efficiency and because of missing context. (Also, dropping permanent pins is AFAIK impossible in the Google Maps proper; it's a feature of "my maps", which is hidden somewhere and has weird interactions with Google Maps.)
        • notyourday 7y ago
  • rconti 7y ago
    That's how I plan virtually every multi-stop journey. And adding this functionality would not take away from the usability of gmaps for single-leg journeys with no stops.
  • Lendal 7y ago
    Because it's so simple. I've been wanting it for YEARS. What's more simple than planning a trip? What else do you need a map for if you're not planning to go from point A to point B? I hate when I need a restaurant or gas station ALONG MY ROUTE and yet years later no maps have this ability. It's insane.
• brentonator 7y ago
  I can do that today. What app are you using?
• bagacrap 7y ago
  You can search along the route if you are navigating, however I agree it could be improved in that you don't get to see any details of a place or add it to saved places (you either add a stop or don't). I don't think Maps is bad for this reason but I agree it is possible to improve.
• deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
• jakelazaroff 7y ago
  Making guesses isn’t a problem. The ideal information software requires no interaction at all! You open your maps app in the morning, and it instantly brings up how to get to your next calendar appointment. If you’re making a long drive, it automatically suggests a gas station along the route. The more our software can infer, the better! Bret Victor has a great essay on building information software called “Magic Ink” [1]: > Information software, by contrast, mimics the experience of reading, not working. It is used for achieving an understanding—constructing a model within the mind. Thus, the user must listen to the software and think about what it says… but any manipulation happens mentally. Except possibly for signaling a decision, such as clicking a “buy” button, but that concludes, not constitutes, a session. The only reason to complete the full interaction cycle and speak is to explicitly provide some context that the software can’t otherwise infer—that is, to indicate a relevant subset of information. For information software, all interaction is essentially navigation around a data space. Of course, guessing poorly is a problem, but that’s an issue with execution. [1] http://worrydream.com/MagicInk/#interactivity_considered_harmful http://worrydream.com/MagicInk/#interactivity_considered_har...
  • marcosdumay 7y ago
    It's not guessing poorly that is the problem. The problem is guessing poorly, and making it cumbersome for the user to override your guess.
• sangnoir 7y ago
  > The process you WANT: pick your start and end. now start searching for places in between. Your start and end are saved. When you find someplace interesting, add it to your list. Keep doing that, keep searching and adding Am I missing something - this use-case is already supported! You choose start & endpoints, then your start the trip (which "saves" them) - you can now search and add as many waypoints as you desire
  • Johnny555 7y ago
    That's what I was thinking, I do that all the time. For example, do a map of San Francisco to New York City. Now you want to visit the world's largest ball of twine, so you add a waypoint, and start typing "Ball of Twine" and a drop-down will appear with a few choices, pick the one you want and it'll add to the map. You can re-order them as needed to optimize your route. You still need to know the name or address of the waypoint you want to add, but that's the case with paper maps and is a good use of browser tabs to search for it.
  • BurningFrog 7y ago
    I've been using Google Maps since it launched, and had no idea this is how it works! One important factor in a good UI is that it is discoverable! If you build an amazing feature but forget to inform the user about it, you've wasted the work.
    • sangnoir 7y ago
      I discovered this by myself - I mean, the search button is right there! I must have been in the middle of a trip & searched for something, which pops up an "Add Stop" button. I think it's pretty discoverable.
      • Multicomp 7y ago
        I'm glad you discovered this, but let's look at a strawman grandma: "the search bar is where you type where you want to go, therefore if I search, it will turn off my current navigation / reroute my destination to whatever I am searching for". The above is not a foregone conclusion, but it was how I thought until I read your and parent's postings about it, and I'm a techie. For every 1 techie that doesn't know about a feature, there are 1,000 users (or something like that). I would posit that the discover-ability difficulties are present whether someone is in a TUI or a GUI.