Comment by diegoveralli | Hacker News Reader

Comment by diegoveralli | Hacker News Reader

> Finally, Google Maps seems more intent today on showing bars, restaurants, ads, and work-from-home businesses than useful map-related features. Sometimes it doesn’t even show the most basic information anymore, including street names.

I suspect they arrived at this through a series of A-B tests, since the more useful navigational information they display, the easier it is for the user to "learn" a city, and be able to navigate by themselves. So hiding information that allows the user to learn the map layout probably increases usage metrics.

A couple of years ago I noticed I missed precisely that: "learning" the layout of a city when I travel. So I started using Organic Maps, which always shows street names and other useful information to assist me in my navigation, instead of guiding me turn by turn.

Search results are a lot worse than Google Maps, and the routes it picks are also often worse, and it's missing traffic information. But when I'm travelling I'm usually on foot, and I'm there to get lost and discover the place, so it's OK if my route is not as efficient as it could be.

As a rule, when in my home city, I always study the route to a new place before navigating, try to get back home without the GPS (which is usually pretty easy, actually), and, on my second visit, challenge myself to get there without the GPS. After enough of this, I have a strong enough map of the city in my own head that I can plan my own routes, get unlost, and make decisions about alternate routes. I often find that there are easier routes than the one proposed by Google Maps. ("No, I'm not going to try to turn left onto a six-lane divided highway without a light at this hour")

> I suspect they arrived at this through a series of A-B tests

And based on the article, they might be using user frustration as a indicator of success:

> A workaround I’ve stumbled upon whenever this happens is to select a business pin on the next street over. When Google Maps centers on that, it for some reason will label the street I’m standing on.

This doesn't apply for me personally, and I think also for most people using public transport. The lack of effort needed for effective transport makes me more likely to use it again, because I don't need to think about uncertainties like delays, roadblocks and timing. I actually end up using Maps for routes I've taken many times before, because of this.

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