Google Maps Forecast
There are 3 different types of people when it comes to making plans for a driving trip, people that plan every detail, people that plan nothing and just go, and people that are somewhere in the middle. But in the end, no one likes to get caught in bad weather that can put them in danger and cause unsafe driving conditions. Whether you are a planner or not, an alert to upcoming bad weather can help create a smoother and less stressful driving experience.
Background:
Google Maps is a web mapping platform that offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, real-time traffic conditions as well as features such as directions, public transit information, business listings, and indoor maps. Although Google Maps offers a weather layer that provides the current weather conditions, it does not offer an option for the forecasted weather. Founded in 2005, it's one of the earliest mapping platforms and has nearly 130 million more users than Waze in the U.S. alone. In May 2017, the app has reported having 2 billion users on Android.
The Problem:
While planning for a driving trip, users would have to check other apps to provide weather information for their route.
Users would have no knowledge of inclement weather that may impede driving along route.
Dangerous to check weather while driving from another app.
The Solution:
To create a feature that provides forecasted weather (in an area, for the estimated time that the user would be there) throughout the user's entire trip so they can plan for any delays due to inclement weather or make plans to avoid the weather altogether. This can be achieved with Google Maps partnering with a third party weather app to provide the data. Ultimately, this feature will be useful for long distance route planning and resolve unexpected surprises.
Goals:
To integrate a weather feature into the current Google Maps interface to include weather for a specified route planned:
Forecasts upcoming weather
Takes into consideration the driving time to next location point and forecasts weather for estimated time of arrival
Includes weather (ie: sunny, rain, etc), duration of weather
Adjusts weather forecast even after stopping for significant period of time
Possible notifications for inclement weather for locations ahead in route
User Research
Market Analysis:
Currently there are not any apps that are able to provide both navigation and forecasted weather. I did an in-depth review of the closest competitors to get a feel of how they function and what works/doesn’t work for each site.
Conclusions from Market Research:
Upon review, the app that is the closest direct competitor to Google Maps is Waze. While Waze does offer many similar features, Google Maps has begun offering current weather conditions while Waze only offers weather related road hazards.
Route planning weather apps such as Drive Weather and Weather on the Way offer detailed forecasts for the planned route that many times includes an interactive time feature so the user can look for the best time to leave. Although these apps work great to show all the weather a user will need for their trip, they do not offer the driving directions that many users utilize as well.
The route planning weather apps that are listed above have many weather features that when used in conjunction with the navigation of Google Maps, would make for an easier and smoother trip for the user.
User Interviews:
To better understand the needs of a variety of Google Maps users, I conducted user interviews with 5 participants, ages ranging from 29 - 67 years old, 4 female and 1 male.
Several key findings were determined from these user interviews. These findings are as follows:
Weather is a major factor when people are driving, especially on a long route.
There are 2 groups of people: People who check the weather while planning for their long driving route and the people who just enter their destination and go.
There is a desire for some way to be alerted to any inclement weather that will affect their driving route.
People take precautions for bad weather including:
Bringing/packing extra supplies
Planning stops along the way (for safety reasons)
Checking their car condition before their departure
While driving in inclement weather, people feel:
Nervous
Uncomfortable
Unsafe
When visibility is bad or driving conditions are unsafe, people will:
Pull over to the side of the road (to wait out bad weather)
Change their departure time
Make unplanned stops
Creating Solutions
Defining the target audience:
Users of any age and gender
Users that utilize Google Maps for their driving routes
Users that strive to have detailed information about a trip before beginning their route
Users that are concerned with how the weather affects their driving or driving time with unsafe driving conditions
Empathy Map
Product Roadmap
Task Flow
Personas
The Features
User need #1:
To be able to show forecast weather along a planned driving route.
Solution:
The Forecast feature shows the forecasted weather for the user’s entire driving route at the time you will be arriving.
User need # 2:
To be able to check the forecasted weather in a specific area of a planned trip.
Solution:
Click on the weather icon to see detailed information about the forecasted weather including what type of weather to expect and delay information if applicable.
User need #3:
To receive an alert of upcoming bad weather on route, including prior to leaving and while driving on route.
Solution:
Forecast’s alert notification function lets you know about any bad weather ahead in your route. Set for the date and time you are leaving to track the forecast for your trip
Sketches/Wireframes
Hi Fidelity Mockups
Usability testing:
My main goal for this usability test is to understand how users react to/interact with the add on Forecast feature of Google Maps and make any changes needed to enable Forecast to be more user friendly based on the testing results.
With this test, I want to determine:
If Forecast is easy for the user to navigate (complete tasks) with little to no instruction
If Forecast appears to be integrated in Google Maps (if same style)
If there are any elements missing from Forecast that would improve user experience
To complete the usability testing, I used a high fidelity mockup and worked with participants, age ranges 38 to 45 including 2 men and 2 women.
Affinity Map
Test Findings:
The usability testing of the Forecast feature went very well, and no issues with the feature were found. As I was only able to test this feature on a small scale (4 participants) within the constraints of this project, one of the next steps would be to test this feature on a larger scale including more participants to see if the findings still hold true.
Possible Future Additions:
On the severe weather alert notification, including a link to available hotels in the area for users that want to stop overnight before getting caught in the unsafe weather conditions forecasted ahead.
Including Doppler Radar along the user’s specified route, showing the weather patterns for the time frame that the user will be arriving in the area.