Google Maps: Everyone has access to Google Maps. However, not many people are aware that Google Maps was an instant failure upon its 2008 introduction in India. As streets are not named in India unlike America, Turn left or turn right was the only direction available on Google Maps when it was launched in India earlier. Google Maps was unable to function here since people were unable to understand such directions.
Elizabeth Laraki (Google Maps UX Design Lead from 2007 to 2009) told the story of how Google Maps overcame the issue of street names in India and rose to prominence in that nation on X.
How Google Maps overcome a huge problem in India?
When Google Maps first launched in India in 2008, the firm soon encountered a difficulty that was specific to the country. Street names were the basis of Google Maps, as Laraki says, but the business soon encountered issues with them in India.
According to Laraki, the lack of official names for many streets in India has rendered Google Maps directions “pretty much useless.”, the business was aware that street names were not always used for navigation in India, but rather landmarks in many communities across the globe.
The “nimble, on-the-ground field research” that followed aimed to find out what kinds of landmarks are useful for navigating and how Indians use them.
Next, to assist users in confirming their directions and fixing mistakes, Google Maps made use of parks, monuments, retail centres, iconic buildings, and petrol stations. Google became “the dominant navigation product for India” in 2009 because of the updates made by the Maps team.
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