As a Google Maps PM, how can you improve it, and can you beat Instagram

1. As a Google Maps PM, how can you improve it, and can you beat Instagram? https://upmatech.medium.com/

2. Isn’t Google Maps good already? That’s not how a visionary org like Google would think about Maps. https://upmatech.medium.com/

3. They constantly push boundaries and release features to: • Solve user’s pain points, • Improve user experience • Keep up with market trends https://upmatech.medium.com/

4. 1. Solve User’s Pain Points? Yes, pain points for new user categories, they are: • Tourists • Cyclists, and • Public transport users … their pain points aren’t addressed in Google Maps as of yet. Google tried to address that. https://upmatech.medium.com/

5. 2. Improve the User experience? for whom? For Foodies or restaurant-goers! As a foodie, what restaurants in the city match my preference? And I plan a dinner with my friends in Vancouver BC, but I want to know where my friends are ? have they left yet, or have they reached the restaurant yet? I checked restaurant timings on Google Maps and reached the restaurant. But the restaurant is closed? Holy Crop! https://upmatech.medium.com/

6. 3. Keep up with Market trends Can you believe that Instagram and TikTok are competing with Google Maps? According to Google’s research, 40% of younger generation population are using social video apps such as Insta and Tiktok for searching restaurants. Google built “restaurant recommendation scoring”, “save features”, “review features” etc in Maps and if the young generation just skips the Maps altogether, it's a big user churn for Google. Young users want immersive experiences, so video is one of the ways to go forward to appeal to them. Younger users have never seen a paper map in their life, but Google Maps now look like that. https://upmatech.medium.com/

7. 6 New features in Google Maps https://upmatech.medium.com/

8. 1. Immersive Experiences: For the tourists to plan better, and beat Instagram and Tiktok: Google launched a test feature in select geographical locations such as SFO, London, Austin, etc. That is called immersive experiences on Maps. It looks like this: https://upmatech.medium.com/

9. 2. Biking/Cycling Maps If you’re a bicyclist, you’ll now be shown some awesome “Marked bike lanes”, “elevation markers”, “shared lanes” etc on the maps. This is again a test feature launched by Google. https://upmatech.medium.com/

10. 3. Inform your friends about your trips Now don't be stranded outside a restaurant waiting for a friend. Plan it well with this feature. https://upmatech.medium.com/

11. 4. Traveling in Public Transport Gets Way Easier Which coach/car/compartment is vacant in your local train/metro rail? Google is trying to crack this problem with its upcoming feature. https://upmatech.medium.com/

12. 5. Google wants to give you better open/close times Sometimes restaurants or other businesses might not be accurate with the timings. So Google wants to use data points such as — the last time the timings were updated by the owner, other shops' open/close times, and busy times of the shop — and come up with suggestions on how accurate the information is on maps. https://upmatech.medium.com/

13. Conclusion: Google wants to • Solve user’s pain points- users are tourists, cyclists, and public transport users • Improve user experience — for restaurant goers with timings accuracy, and friends reaching on time or not • Keep up with market trends — competing with Instagram and TikTok that are eating to Maps business https://upmatech.medium.com/

14. Solutions by Google • Immersive experiences for tourists and younger crowds • Biking/Cycling maps • Inform your friends about your trips • Traveling in public transport gets way easier • Google wants to give you better open/close times Conclusion https://upmatech.medium.com/