[hyperdeficit]

I hadn't even thought of this specifically, but after it was mentioned in the initial post I realized just how much that is my use case most of the time and how often I am fighting with google maps to accomplish what are relatively simple tasks like adding an additional point along a route. If you are trying to add multiple additional points on a route it gets even worse.

This is all much worse on the Android app as well, where it makes the assumption that your use case is to get from where you are right now to somewhere else. Trying to get from point A to B, where neither is where you are now, is unnecessarily frustrating.

[jakelazaroff]

> This is all much worse on the Android app as well, where it makes the assumption that your use case is to get from where you are right now to somewhere else.

That strikes me as a fantastic assumption. I wonder what percentage of routes involve the user’s current location? I bet it’s high!

[eitland]

Yep. But it used to be even better when it made that assumption clear by adding a pre-filled box with your current location.

It just worked for the default case but when you needed something else it was straightforward to do that.

[StavrosK]

Doesn't it? It gives me two boxes, "current location" and "destination" and I can change either.

[wccrawford]

I can't reply to eitland for some reason, but yes, I get both those boxes.

I open the app, click my destination, and then click "Directions". The very next thing is both of those boxes, with "current location" defaulting to the start location. I can then change that if I want.

It optimizes for my most common use case, but allows me to do it otherwise, too. I don't think I could design this better.

[eitland]

Straight away after you open Google Maps on a mobile?

[StavrosK]

No, I open it, look for the destination, then press directions and can edit the starting point.

[eitland]

Then we agree. I find that utterly annoying since I've seen how simple it could be but it seems many people disagree with me :-)

[PJDK]

On android I just (from london) typed "Washington DC to New York" and it instantly popped me up directions for the other side of the world, with two editable boxes.

That seems pretty decent UX wise?

[tomc1985]

That is such a narrow use case. Were you actually planning that trip I am sure you would find the UX lacking.

* What about stops along the way?

* What about saving the results for later?

* What if you want to do some other mapping task in the middle of all this?

* Are the directions given feasible?

[JoeSmithson]

I just tested this and it works as follows;

- Open Maps

- Search destination. It autocompletes after about 5 characters

- Select destination

- Screen changes to infobox about the location. There is a prominent "Directions" button

- Press "Directions"

- It changes to a route view, the Start is autocompleted to Current Location but obviously editable

- Press into start location edit box

- I can type location or "Choose on map"

This process requires essentially the minimum possible information from me (I want directions, from A, to B). What is frustrating about it?

[eitland]

That is 9 or so manual steps and it doesn't become clear until step 7 or so that it can even be done! There's nothing intuitive about this and when someone knows how it works that must be because they've either learned it from someone or kept on experimenting with it until they figured it out.

compare this to the original that they "simplified" away:

- Open app in navigation mode (step 1)

- it shows two boxes, where you are going from and where you are going to

- fill said boxes. There is a button next to from to choose current destination. (step 2 and 3)

- click get directions (step 4)

Compared to the current "simple" version it is immediately clear and there are fewer steps and less things you need to know.

[iterati]

You didn't break down your steps like the parent did. Here's your way:

1) Open app 2) Search for start 3) Select start 4) Search for destination 5) Select destination 6) Click directions

Here's the parent's way:

1) Open app 2) Search destination 3) Select destination 4) Select directions 5) Search for start 6) Select start

They're the same process.

[eitland]

No it was literally 4 actions (3 if you accepted the default starting point) and the the same amount of typing the current solution. I didn't summarize anything.

1. Open app in navigation mode (there was a separate icon for that)

2. Accept default start or type if you don't want the default.

3. Point at destination

4. Type destination and enter

Besides it was immediately obvious when I opened the app for the first time on my first smartphone, it just made sense and still does when I think about it.

Edit: I reread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21836204

I exaggerated wildly and can get it down to 5 steps. It is by definition discoverable since we have all discovered it, but I hold that it is still not obvious or self-explanatory in any way.

[iterati]

It's immediately obvious to me how to use it now. And if you accept the default start then both solutions are still the same.

Gmaps right now works like this:

1) Open App 2) Click search box 3) Either select a destination from the list that pops up or start typing and actually search. Once that's done the route pops up with your travel time. 4) Click start

If you want to change your start:

4) Select the starting location 5) Search or select from the list that pops up and your route and travel time are show. 6) Click start

It's not rocket science. It's all obvious from the UI.

[gowld]

Obviously it's fewer steps if you combine some steps into 1 when paraphrasing.

[eitland]

The point is it was one step. There was a separate entry point or what should I call it from the main Android menu that took me straight to this.