Indoor navigation for NAVER Maps

NAVER Maps, a division of NAVER with 21M MAUs, is the top map service in South Korea. I led the redesign of the indoor map feature, identifying and solving problems with various design alternatives. The revamped indoor map was successfully deployed for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in September 2018.

Role

UX Designer
- Research & Ideation
- Strategy Development
- Wireframing
- Spec Documentation

Project type

Launched service, Worked as full-time UX designer at Naver

Timeline

8 months
(Jul 2017 - Jan 2018)

Team

- 1 UX Designer
- 1 UI Designer
- 6 Engineers

About
the Maps

Naver Map is one of the most renowned map platforms in Korea.
During my time there, my main task involved increasing the number of users for the 'Indoor Navigation' feature and addressing their demands.

Goal

Users had difficulty navigating indoor locations due to limited indoor map coverage
and the lack of clear entry points to the indoor maps, resulting in unsatisfactory outcomes.

Helping people use indoor maps more intuitively and comfortably than before.

Impact

The results showed positive developments in our business metrics, and the new indoor map was successfully deployed for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in September 2018.

🕐 The time for users to access the indoor map was reduced.
🔎 27.5% increase in the number of users utilizing indoor maps
💬 Feedback that users found it difficult to find indoor venues disappeared.

Process

Identifying user’s pain points and continuous tests
to maximize the user’s interactions and the flow.

Improved NAVER Maps “indoor map” feature by analyzing and defining the experience of using the feature, focusing on what users felt.

Problem Statement

“How do we help users easily navigate indoor locations while using maps?”

Users had difficulty navigating indoor locations due to limited indoor map coverage
and the lack of clear entry points to the indoor maps, resulting in unsatisfactory outcomes.

Pain Point

Users struggle with navigating indoor places
due to the indoor maps not being immediately visible.

To view the indoor location on a map,
users must toggle between separate screens.

Users encountered a cumbersome experience while navigating indoor locations,
requiring them to switch between the list and map views.

Exploration

Step 1. How should we improve the design?

It should be intuitive and allow you to easily navigate different indoor locations.

After discussing both proposals with the team, we decided on option B because navigating through floors using a vertical bar felt more intuitive.

Step 2. When should I show the indoor map?

1.ON/OFF interaction for indoor maps

The indoor map needed to toggle depending on whether users were viewing an indoor or outdoor location. The ability to toggle the indoor map depends on whether the defined center point matches
the current position on the map.

2. Redefine the zoom level that shows the indoor map

As opposed to NAVER Maps, other services had started to expose indoor maps at a level where users can recognize their surroundings.
Considered how users find their current locations and their destination point in each scenario.

Solution

Quick indoor place navigation with new indoor navigation toggle interactivity and floor buttons

before

After

01.
Provides 0-depth access to places on each floor with a floor button.

Based on user research, accessing the indoor map and navigating to specific places was the most frustrating part of the process.
I implemented a floor button feature that allows users to immediately navigate to any indoor place on any floor.

02.
Provides a list of all indoor locations directly from the building's own detail page

It's important to be able to select and navigate floor by floor on the map,
but we've also improved the detail pages of the buildings so users can quickly skim through the places inside.

03.
Show indoor maps at a deeper level than before.

I hypothesized that indoor location information would be easier to recognize if it was shown at a level where places were more visible from a bird's eye view.
We also worked with our designers to improve the visibility of the indoor frame to expose the place information.

Impact

🔎 27.5% increase in the number of users utilizing indoor maps

💬 Feedback that users found it difficult to find indoor venues disappeared.

🕐 The time for users to access the indoor map was reduced.

Takeaways

New features enhance value, efficiency,
but considering user interaction is equally important.

I challenged myself to think about how to solve our users' needs and communicate effectively with stakeholders throughout the process. I quickly tested my designs by creating low-and high-fidelity prototypes and getting weekly feedback from the team. After a few iterations, we settled on an intuitive solution that was specifically tailored to address our users' concerns.

This project led me to realize the importance of user interaction
and how collaborate with a variety of stakeholders.