Today for #MapCritiqueMonday I want to discuss creating technology products that are useful. A few weeks ago I was looking up where the nearest Home Depot was on Google Maps.
And in the process, I saw that our Home Depot now has an internal map provided. Now, I have not tried this in-store to see how well it works but I thought that this was a brilliant solution for helping customers navigate within their stores.
Here’s why:
📍It was on a platform that made sense for the users. All too often I see people putting out brilliant and useful geospatial applications built that are not being put on a platform that the desired users are using. While Home Depot could and probably has embedded this information within their app, it is accessible to far more people because Google Maps is far more ubiquitous. There are, of course, lots of issues with Google Maps and probably the fact that Home Depot had to pay to add this to the map. However, I think that the lesson from this is really clear about putting data in a place where people will access it
2. There was an emphasis on creating information that provides context to a user. Knowing which side of the store the paint is on can help me figure out where to park my car. I’m not seeing what is in every aisle of the store. However, I’m seeing the big high-level store roadmap. This is really helpful in providing context for me as I navigate the store.
What are your thoughts? I have not done a lot with indoor GIS and would love to know your experience and thoughts.