UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
kyrobeshay.com
UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
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Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#2> "It’s hard to orient yourself, at least for me, and that’s when the dance begins (let’s not get into the figure-8 rave that Apple sometimes asks me to do to recalibrate the compass)."
But the suckiness of the compass is also what prevents us from implementing author's feature.
I mean, isn't this whole feature a response to "the compass/blue arrow sucks and is inaccurate, often not working at all, and is laggy and slow to respond even when it works". It would seem that implementing a new UX around it won't really help, since the new "fill up turn bar" would be just as unreliable and error-prone as its blue-arrow predecessor.
Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#3> "It’s hard to orient yourself, at least for me, and that’s when the dance begins (let’s not get into the figure-8 rave that Apple sometimes asks me to do to recalibrate the compass)." But the suckiness of the compass is also what prevents us from implementing author's feature. I mean, isn't this whole feature a response to "the compass/blue arrow sucks and is inaccurate, often not working at all, and is laggy and s…
That was my exact thought. This is a good idea once the compass doesn't suck as bad, but until then this feature would be just as frustrating because of the high potential for error. It would be no different than the frustration you already face, just in a new design.
Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#4Very interesting, but why change the button when it's time to "Go"? You could keep the arrow and just change the background color to green.
This will also allow me if I am distract to know where to go.
Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#5Or you could, ya know, look at the road you're on, and deduce the correct direction that way. Technology is great, but why do people seem to think technology means we shouldn't have to think about or even look at our surroundings?
Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#6> "It’s hard to orient yourself, at least for me, and that’s when the dance begins (let’s not get into the figure-8 rave that Apple sometimes asks me to do to recalibrate the compass)." But the suckiness of the compass is also what prevents us from implementing author's feature. I mean, isn't this whole feature a response to "the compass/blue arrow sucks and is inaccurate, often not working at all, and is laggy and s…
That was my exact thought. This is a good idea once the compass doesn't suck as bad, but until then this feature would be just as frustrating because of the high potential for error. It would be no different than the frustration you already face, just in a new design.
I am not sure. We may be more sensitive to smaller misalignment looking down at a spinning triangle than out at the world. If I get a "go!" and it is 10 degrees off, I will still be following the correct street in the correct direction.
Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#7I'd really much rather have a Google Navigator that can talk to a Bluetooth earpiece so that I can look where I'm going rather than at a smartphone. "Go left. No, your other left!"
Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#8I was thinking this same thing this morning as I tried to figure out where I needed to go once I got off the subway using the new google maps. This is a neat idea, but I wouldn't use it until I feel confident in the GPS and compass in my phone being accurate. Right now it's only right about 50-75% of the time (an one fo the times when it is notoriously bad is when it is finding its bearings after being without servie underground.)
Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#9As others have pointed out, it's the noisiness of the compass sensor itself that's the real problem - this isn't something that can be fixed in UI.
Assuming you're pointing the device in the direction of travel, you can move forwards and combine the new position information to reduce this noise - I believe Google Maps does this on Android.
One could possibly envisage also using data from the phone's camera and corresponding it to street view images which (presumably) all have a known direction. There would be issues with the amount of data being sent up to Google to do this and the experience would be a bit wacky as you'd have to point your phone up (or at least horizontally, assuming you weren't surrounded by pedestrians etc) and maybe scan it around a bit...
You've got me thinking about Google Maps in general though. A feature I'd love to see is a map layer for mobile network coverage. I'm taking a trip this weekend somewhere quite rural and would like to try out the turn-by-turn directions, and it would be good to know ahead of time if some cruicial point in the route simply isn't covered by a signal - you never know until it's too late! They could perhaps combine this with the routing algorithm to offer you an alternate route where you don't have to make a turn in a no-reception area. When caching is implemented further down the line this could be used to provide a sensible 'minimal caching' option that just stores the bits you won't be able to receive on the road.
Re: UX Idea: Real Turn-by-Turn Navigation
#10I would happily carry a candy bar-sized object that connects wirelessly to the map app on my phone and haptically let's me know when it's pointed in the right direction. This would mean that: 1) A better compass can be used and 2) I don't have to look down at my phone.