Google Maps and the User Experience
Posted by harrisj Thu, 07 Apr 2005 17:05:24 GMT
Jason Kottke nails one of the reasons why Google Maps has generated such excitement in the last few days with the addition of satellite data. Certainly it's not that the technology is especially new (Microsoft and other companies have had satellite data on the web, and some localities like Washington, DC have provided maps that mix GIS information with aerial views). But the thing about Google Maps that inspires people and creates such a possibility for serious play is the user interface. In his post on Google's user experience, Kottke quotes an earlier post with a statement I like so much, I'm going to quote it here:Advances on the internet and the web are typically heralded as technology-driven. Robert Morris from IBM argued last year at Etech 2002 that -- and I'm paraphrasing from memory here -- most significant advances in software are actually advances in user experience, not in technology. Mosaic was not an advancement in technology over TBL's original browser. Blogger is a highly-specialized FTP client. IM is IRC++ (or IRC for Dummies, depending on your POV). The advantages that these applications offered people were user experience-oriented, not technology-oriented.
Packaging and interface do matter. Indeed, I think the most successful online web applications ultimately will be those with the best interfaces, those that allow people to easily grasp what they can be used for and to dream up new ways to extend their functionality and uses in ways the designers haven't conceived of.
