japanese | english

This is Yuri Sugiura. I made the UIUX design of the route and walking guidance Yahoo! Map revision. I’m going to describe how the walking guidance design was made.

1. Making walking directions for who have no sense of direction.

In the previous Yahoo! Map app, the average monthly gender usage ratio of the route function compared with the map top, was about three times as many teenage women as forties men.

This figure was a number that stood out among the men who had a lot of 30-50s.

The result of this was an idea that users looking for the route feature might have different parts of their needs and characteristics than the users looking for a map top feature.

Next, I thought about the features of the person who uses the walking guide.

Walking guide is unlike the route, the route function can be used in the preparation phase for confirmation, but walking directions are used to guide you when you are heading to your destination in a basic way. Conversely, users who are not satisfied with the route can use the Guided Walk and use it as a last resort to reach their destination. I guessed that people who use the walking directions are difficult to reach the destination only by the route, and the person of the direction is not good at the map. So, I thought I would make the walking guide for people who with no sense of direction!

2. Five characteristics of the people have no sense of direction

Next, I searched for the character of the person with no sense of direction. By The following research methods.

I organized the behavior information of the users of Yahoo! Map before the renewal by function.

We recruited and interviewed people who had no sense of direction outside the company. In addition, I researched it outside by using the new walking guidance and the other navigation services.

We asked people who had no sense of direction to use the walking navigation test stage and conducted tests outdoors.

The following five characters are found.

◆Mark something that can be viewed.

People with no sense of direction can recognize the convenience store and bank sign is a landmark, but many people can’t recognize the road name and intersection names as landmarks.

The view that is actually visible.

people who has no sense of direction recognizes them as a mark.

◆The area where the map is seen is narrow.

Below is the Google Map route screen of the app. People with no sense of direction will watch the route line, the location icon around. Anything outside their vision does not play a role in their sense of direction Gaze area and non-conscious landmarks.

Gaze area and non-conscious landmarks.

◆People with no sense of direction don’t easily understand when the map changes.

The following is the night mode of Google Map Navi. When switching to night mode, the map is not so understood because the bright map and the impression that I originally watched are different.

The following is a map screen of the Apple map building in 3d. When the building becomes a map represented in 3d, people with no sense of direction will not know their location because the mark of the store, such as found disappears.

◆West, East and South directions are confusing. The direction of turning is changeable.

North instructions on walking directions are the cause of confusion.

◆They want the current direction on the screen.

They turn the map and the smartphone to make the progress direction point up. It will cause them to become confused because the direction of seeing the map changes.

There are several reasons for the no sense of direction. I wanted to make a more easy-to-understand walking guide.

3. Approach to Solution

Based on the characteristics of people with no sense of direction that we examined, I will talk about what kind of approach we have made by walking guidance after renewal.

◆Make a map where you can find visible landmarks soon.

Prioritize high-level landmarks such as convenience stores and banks.

◆A guide from the mark point.

The direction and the action are directed at the starting point of the store and the facility which becomes a mark The user lost because it changes the direction of the left from the mark.

It is written in the balloon to cross the crosswalk of an ENEOS. The direction and the action are supported from the mark.

◆Show the progress direction on the screen.

When the current location is on the route, a certain length of road will automatically rotate the map to make the direction of progression up.

It is written to the left in the balloon at the corner. The map rotates and the direction of progression is up.

It was considerably short. They were the approaches of walking guidance for the direction of tone-deaf after the renewal.

4. My thoughts

The renewal of this walk guidance reconfirms the importance of knowing the target users and the basics of creating a service that seems make users understand it. In addition, we realized the importance of cooperation with the cooperation of various experts and accurate services and projects.

I want to make it for whom are conscious in the future.

• Yuri Sugiura
• designer
• Local Service division