Group C Sketch




My sketch is trying to convey the look of a Google page but the concept of Map Quest.  I find the look of Google to be colorful (which cannot be seen because I do not have a color scanner), light, fresh and straight-forward.  I believe most users appreciate these different attributes of Google so it was important for me to make sure this page still had all of this.  But it was also important to make sure that finding out how to get directions on Google Maps was not difficult and that it was something most would find extremely simple and self-explanatory.

I kept the overall idea of Google Maps by having the normal “header” with the Web, Image, Maps, etc. on the top of the page.  I also kept the box that allows you to do a Google Maps search for a particular place of interest, address, or business because I believe this could be very handy for someone who is not sure of an exact address.  I then started making changes by putting a more “Map Quest feel” in the left column (the part circles and labeled in my sketch).  I put in a Starting Location, Address, City, State, and Zip Code area so the user could easily type these in rather than having to guess what is suppose to go in box A and box B on the original Google Maps page.  I wanted to keep all of this in the left column, rather than doing it the way Map Quest does it, so it would still have the same feel as a Google page.  I also thought it was good to keep the map on the right with the buttons of Street, Satellite, Traffic, and More… because after interviewing many people we found that a lot of people use Google Maps for this specific reason.  While keeping these buttons, I did still change the order because our interviews showed that certains things were used on Google Maps more than others.  Street view was the number one reason people were using Google Maps so I felt it was important to put this first. 

I believe this update (circled part of sketch) will solve the problem we found with Google Maps because it makes the page seem much more familiar.  Most people have seen a “Starting Location” and “Ending Location” when looking up directions online so this will help them along when using Google Maps for the first time.  Even if this is not their first time using Google Maps it will still help for efficiency reasons because it will make it easier and therefore quicker when trying to find directions.

I have decided to solve the problem in this way (by updating the site specifically in the circled part of the sketch) because over 90% of our interviewees use either Google Maps or Map Quest.  The majority of Google Map interviewees found it to be interesting and fun so it I wanted to make sure getting the to the street/satellite view was as simple as possible (first button on the right side).  The Map Quest interviewees found it to be simple and self-explanatory when trying to find directions.  I incorporated this into the sketch (the circled part in the left column) by adding in places to put your starting and ending locations.  This will hopefully solve the problem of familiary for Google Maps users when trying to find directions but still wanting a fun and exciting experience.


One Response to “Group C Sketch”

  1. cmschnic Says:

    I really like your idea of adding the directions portion of the mapping system on the left side of the map, as well as the additional feature sets listed below. One feature that you included that I feel is very important is that of the “Default starting location” option, which is something that I don’t feel the mapping systems available right now utilize effectively enough today. Your description of the look and feel that needs to be accomplished by the site redesign makes quite a bit of sense, keeping the familiarity of the Google feel along with the addition of the new features. The only possible change I would make is to condense your address attributes (Address, City, State, etc…) into one single text field like Google has done, but that is just a personal opinion.

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