Using Google Maps to get around in a timely manner is often part of our daily routine. Following directions only to find out you have been led into a road closure or down a specific road type you always try to avoid can be frustrating. Don't Take Me There is a Google Maps feature that allows users to select types of roads they would like to avoid, report road closures, and have an alternate route calculated.
PROBLEM
The Google Map application sometimes doesn’t know about roads that are closed because of construction or an accident, and can’t tell when a road might be unsuitable for a particular vehicle, but doesn’t have a way for a user to tell it to avoid a particular road.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
For my comparative analysis I chose to take a closer look at the apps Waze and AllTrails. I wanted to analyze how these two apps allowed users to identify closures.
Waze​​ has a quick 2 step process. First, there is a drop down list of options to choose from. One of these options is report a road closure. The user is then given roads to choose from with arrows to represent which direction the road closure is occurring on.
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AllTrails requires the user to stop navigation or end the trip before reporting a closure. AllTrails does allow the user to type specific notes about the closure which can ultimately be seen by other users.
SKETCHES
Knowing that the user will be engaging with this feature while driving, I wanted to ensure the feature is quick and easy to use. Therefore, I look inspiration from the Waze app and their 2 step process.
During my research I discovered that Waze use of arrows was confusing to several users. Because of this, I designed an alternate way for users to select which roads they wanted to report as closed. This design can be seen in my sketches, along with my wireframes. An alternate flow can also be seen, showing how a user would select specific types of roads they would like to avoid for this trip or all future trips.
WIREFRAMES
