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I'm surprised they went forward with the fullscreen Google Maps experience. I can't believe how awful the performance is. I can't count how many times I've fol

I'm surprised they went forward with the fullscreen Google Maps experience. I can't believe how awful the performance is. I can't count how many times I've followed a link, including ones off this blog post, where the map will hang (on some js query I'm assuming) and won't respond to user input or do anything until the page is reloaded. I also can't believe how tricky the UI is. Finding directions from one place to another is unbelievably difficult. The only thing I can think of is that their desktop usage has just plummeted so they decided to go out the door with experimental features up to wazoo for the tinkerers who love to waste time exploring the map.

chadgeidel 12y ago
I, too find the new maps occasionally frustrating (although I prefer it to the old version. To answer other's questions. It's a game of "who moved my cheese" in which Google changes the way some feature works (for example - creating a link to a location), and when I try to find out how to do it "the new way", I only get results for "the old way". I just discovered recently that you can show the sidebar (with the "Print" and "Link" buttons) in new maps by clicking the gear icon and select "My Places" in the lower right corner of the screen. This is non-obvious behavior. Am I stupid? Perhaps. Can a case be made for the fact that moving navigational elements is bad UX? I think so.
- nandhp 12y ago
  I do agree that the new maps are sometimes frustrating. However, I feel the need to point out two things with respect to your particular objections to it. 1. "Gear > My Places" appears to do basically the same thing as "Help > Return to Classic Google Maps", which has a significantly more obvious name. 2. In the new Google Maps, the Print and Link buttons are mostly redundant. If you want to print the map, use your browser's Print command. In some situations (e.g. step-by-step directions) there is a print button on the Google Maps button-bar (under Google's global navigation) which offers more options (e.g. print with maps or print text only). As to making links to things, there's a perfectly good URL in the address bar. If that isn't good enough (it's really long, so maybe you want a short URL), you can do "Gear > Share and embed map". Yes, this really ought to be named "Share or embed map", since those are actually separate features.
  - chadgeidel 12y ago
    Thanks, but the example I listed (wanting to link to a specific location, not printing) was just that - an example. I find that there are many things that IMHO should be "obvious" yet there is no obvious way to do them. This is my primary frustration. Googling "how to do X" results in the old way which no longer works. This is my secondary frustration.
    - _delirium 12y ago
      > Googling "how to do X" results in the old way which no longer works. This is my secondary frustration. For 3rd-party posts there's not much Google can do about this (besides avoiding major UI changes), but I'm often frustrated by finding the wild-goose-chase obsolete information actually located on google.com, in un-updated help pages. One thing they could do to at least make it easier for people to recognize that is to date help pages with the last-updated date, so I can tell at a glance whether a given page is from 2014 or 2010.
finch_ 12y ago
Maybe these are personal problems? I use Google Maps on the web all the time, and have never seen it hang. As for finding directions: there's a search box, you type in an address, hit the 'directions' button that pops up, and enter another address. I literally can't think of a way to make this simpler.
- vegashacker 12y ago
  I happen to agree that the new interface is incredibly difficult to use, UI-wise. In fact, I switched back to old maps for this reason. Unfortunately, I don't recall the specifics which got me frustrated. I do recall that I would very often be wandering with my mouse trying to figure out what to click next. Haven't noticed the performance problems though. I'm on a Macbook Pro, using Chrome.
- kingnight 12y ago
  It could definitely be an issue with network speed. I don't have the greatest connection, sure, but I think 10mb/s should be able to handle it. I understand how the directions work and I agree it's super simple, but the intended UX and what I actually experience is different. The contextual search box doesn't consistently change in relation to what I'm clicking on so that I cannot click / type / directions as I know I'm supposed to.
raldi 12y ago
What kind of computer do you use?
- kingnight 12y ago
  I have a 13' macbook pro w/ 8gb of ram. One thought is that I browse in incognito mode, and i have ghostery running.
  - raldi 12y ago
    Hmm, that computer should be powerful enough. Do things improve if you disable Ghostery?
james33 12y ago
Are you using the same Google Maps as everyone else? At least for me, the experience has never been better or easier to use. I absolutely love the new desktop maps and the performance has been better in my experience, not worse.
- kingnight 12y ago
  Ha! Maybe I'm stuck on a beta version from when I opted in early. I could hope. I really can't imagine the performance being better, but I guess it's ymmv.
- _delirium 12y ago
  I also find the new maps extremely slow on desktop, though the interface is reasonably fast on mobile. Tried both Firefox and Safari on my mid-2010 Macbook Pro, and everything is pretty wonky and unreliable. I actually use Bing Maps now by default on desktop due to the speed issue, unless I need something that Bing doesn't have (Google has much better transit coverage, for example).
dyeje 12y ago
I have similar problems. I prefer the old maps.
chippy 12y ago
probably a WebGL issue.
michaelmior 12y ago
I miss being able to type "from:X to:Y" to get directions.
- _delirium 12y ago
  Typing just "X to Y" usually works for me.
  - michaelmior 12y ago
    Thanks! That does seem to work as expected :)
    - _delirium 12y ago
      It took me a while to figure it out also! A 2nd way is you can type the destination, hit enter, then click "directions", then fill in the "from" location (which defaults to your geolocated current location). More steps, but this way might work better if you want to search for the from/to addresses and select them from the results, or if you often want to use your current location as the source. But if you know the from/to with enough precision that Google can guess at your meaning, just searching for something like "Copenhagen to Malmö" does save some clicks.

chadgeidel 12y ago

I, too find the new maps occasionally frustrating (although I prefer it to the old version. To answer other's questions. It's a game of "who moved my cheese" in which Google changes the way some feature works (for example - creating a link to a location), and when I try to find out how to do it "the new way", I only get results for "the old way". I just discovered recently that you can show the sidebar (with the "Print" and "Link" buttons) in new maps by clicking the gear icon and select "My Places" in the lower right corner of the screen. This is non-obvious behavior. Am I stupid? Perhaps. Can a case be made for the fact that moving navigational elements is bad UX? I think so.

nandhp 12y ago
I do agree that the new maps are sometimes frustrating. However, I feel the need to point out two things with respect to your particular objections to it. 1. "Gear > My Places" appears to do basically the same thing as "Help > Return to Classic Google Maps", which has a significantly more obvious name. 2. In the new Google Maps, the Print and Link buttons are mostly redundant. If you want to print the map, use your browser's Print command. In some situations (e.g. step-by-step directions) there is a print button on the Google Maps button-bar (under Google's global navigation) which offers more options (e.g. print with maps or print text only). As to making links to things, there's a perfectly good URL in the address bar. If that isn't good enough (it's really long, so maybe you want a short URL), you can do "Gear > Share and embed map". Yes, this really ought to be named "Share or embed map", since those are actually separate features.
- chadgeidel 12y ago
  Thanks, but the example I listed (wanting to link to a specific location, not printing) was just that - an example. I find that there are many things that IMHO should be "obvious" yet there is no obvious way to do them. This is my primary frustration. Googling "how to do X" results in the old way which no longer works. This is my secondary frustration.
  - _delirium 12y ago
    > Googling "how to do X" results in the old way which no longer works. This is my secondary frustration. For 3rd-party posts there's not much Google can do about this (besides avoiding major UI changes), but I'm often frustrated by finding the wild-goose-chase obsolete information actually located on google.com, in un-updated help pages. One thing they could do to at least make it easier for people to recognize that is to date help pages with the last-updated date, so I can tell at a glance whether a given page is from 2014 or 2010.

finch_ 12y ago

Maybe these are personal problems? I use Google Maps on the web all the time, and have never seen it hang. As for finding directions: there's a search box, you type in an address, hit the 'directions' button that pops up, and enter another address. I literally can't think of a way to make this simpler.

vegashacker 12y ago
I happen to agree that the new interface is incredibly difficult to use, UI-wise. In fact, I switched back to old maps for this reason. Unfortunately, I don't recall the specifics which got me frustrated. I do recall that I would very often be wandering with my mouse trying to figure out what to click next. Haven't noticed the performance problems though. I'm on a Macbook Pro, using Chrome.
kingnight 12y ago
It could definitely be an issue with network speed. I don't have the greatest connection, sure, but I think 10mb/s should be able to handle it. I understand how the directions work and I agree it's super simple, but the intended UX and what I actually experience is different. The contextual search box doesn't consistently change in relation to what I'm clicking on so that I cannot click / type / directions as I know I'm supposed to.

raldi 12y ago

What kind of computer do you use?

kingnight 12y ago
I have a 13' macbook pro w/ 8gb of ram. One thought is that I browse in incognito mode, and i have ghostery running.
- raldi 12y ago
  Hmm, that computer should be powerful enough. Do things improve if you disable Ghostery?

james33 12y ago

Are you using the same Google Maps as everyone else? At least for me, the experience has never been better or easier to use. I absolutely love the new desktop maps and the performance has been better in my experience, not worse.

kingnight 12y ago
Ha! Maybe I'm stuck on a beta version from when I opted in early. I could hope. I really can't imagine the performance being better, but I guess it's ymmv.
_delirium 12y ago
I also find the new maps extremely slow on desktop, though the interface is reasonably fast on mobile. Tried both Firefox and Safari on my mid-2010 Macbook Pro, and everything is pretty wonky and unreliable. I actually use Bing Maps now by default on desktop due to the speed issue, unless I need something that Bing doesn't have (Google has much better transit coverage, for example).

dyeje 12y ago

I have similar problems. I prefer the old maps.

chippy 12y ago

probably a WebGL issue.

michaelmior 12y ago

I miss being able to type "from:X to:Y" to get directions.

_delirium 12y ago
Typing just "X to Y" usually works for me.
- michaelmior 12y ago
  Thanks! That does seem to work as expected :)
  - _delirium 12y ago
    It took me a while to figure it out also! A 2nd way is you can type the destination, hit enter, then click "directions", then fill in the "from" location (which defaults to your geolocated current location). More steps, but this way might work better if you want to search for the from/to addresses and select them from the results, or if you often want to use your current location as the source. But if you know the from/to with enough precision that Google can guess at your meaning, just searching for something like "Copenhagen to Malmö" does save some clicks.