Steven Lo-Presti

Digital Marketing Manager @ Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Passionate about providing insights + solutions. Proud father, crap husband, loyal friend. #analytics #seo

[dan barker @danbarker]

Rule of thumb for translating Google restaurant ratings to avoid disappointment:

1. Ignore everything below a '4.0' rating.
2. Everything over 4.0, take the digit after the dot: that number, out of 10, is the real rating.

Eg, this is 1/10.

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

@ScullyMark Yes! @hazlitteastman https://t.co/uwn9pZJnYn

[Elizabeth Laraki @elizlaraki]

15 years ago, I helped design Google Maps.

I still use it everyday.

Last week, the team dramatically changed the map’s visual design.

I don’t love it.

It feels colder, less accurate and less human.

But more importantly, they missed a key opportunity to simplify and scale.

–––

Google Maps has started to widely roll out updated map colors:

- All roads are now gray

- Water changed from blue to teal

- Parks and open spaces are now mint green

It seems the goal was to improve usability and make the maps more readable.

Admittedly, I do think major roads, traffic, and trails stand out more now.

But the colors of water and parks/open spaces blend together.

And to me, the palette feels colder and more computer generated.

But color choices aside…

If the goal was better usability, the team missed a big opportunity:

Google Maps should have cleaned up the crud overlaying the map.

–––

So much stuff has accumulated on top of the map.

Currently there are ~11 different elements obscuring it:

- Search box

- 8 pills overlayed in 4 rows

- A peeking card for “latest in the area”

- A bottom nav bar

(Personally, I would LOVE to see usage metrics for all these overlays.)

The map should be sacred real estate.

Only things that are highly useful to many people should obscure it.

There should be a very limited number of features that can cover the map view.

And there are multiple ways to add new features without overlaying them directly on the map.

–––

Here’s how it could look:

- Keep the search box

- Keep the bottom bar

- Remove everything else from the map

- Roll the most used features into the bottom bar

- Bury the less used features elsewhere in the app

I assume the search box and directions are top priority and should remain prominent.

My Location and map layers (satellite, traffic, etc.) could move to the bottom bar.

The explore overlays (restaurants, gas, etc.) could live in the bottom bar in “Explore” and open as cards.

The additional space in the bottom bar could be used for Saved, as a “More” option, or could be removed entirely.

There are many variations of how features could be arranged.

But the key points are:

- Dramatically simplify

- Strongly prioritize map visibility

- Bury legacy and low use features

–––

It’s normal for products to accumulate features over time.

But it’s also super important to stay vigilant and continually clean them up.

In many ways, it’s interesting to see history repeating itself.

In 2007, I was 1 of 2 designers on Google Maps.

At that time, Maps had already become a cluttered mess.

We were wedging new features into any space we could find in the UI.

The user experience was suffering and the product was growing increasingly complicated.

We had to rethink the app to be simple and scale for the future.

It seems like it’s time for Google Maps to do this again…

–––

For more on design + tips for early stage founders, follow me on X: @elizlaraki

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

@thyng @euskaltel I had the same issue. If you have an esim enabled phone, you can get a data only esim for the US - I use @airalocom. Super useful! Top it up only when you use it..

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

@pedrodias @RoyalMail Had this a couple of times. Know my postie quite well so asker her and she mentioned they probably ran out of time to do all their scheduled deliveries..

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

@robistyping Edit, edit, edit. r/DecreasinglyVerbose

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

@AutomateYouLife Made me click. Success!

[Aleyda Solis 🕊️ @aleyda]

SEO Area Importance vs Website Size 👀
I've created this chart based on the one the awesome @thetafferboy (shockingly still suspended over here) shared as one of his unsolicited SEO tips (which you can see here: https://t.co/wVFuSltK0s) adding backlinks and nuance for content ...

[Merlinox 🏃🏻🇮🇹 @merlinox]

Do you like that logo?
https://t.co/mawYgNgM2W
#crxss #xwitter

[James Boodt @JDBoodt]

I love this so much.

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

£6.90

[Russell Crowe @russellcrowe]

quello che facciamo in vita
riecheggia nell'eternità

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

Misinformation travels faster than facts. [data: https://t.co/n0FLR77yPX]

[BuzzSumo @BuzzSumo]

🥳🚨📰NEW REPORT: 100m Headlines 📰🚨🥳

We've updated @steverayson's famous 2017 headline study.

Read for:
Best headline themes & phrases 🏆
Ideal headline lengths 📏
Huge changes in popular headlines since 2017 😮
How to analyze your own headlines 🤓

https://t.co/qa1GVd4LfE

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

@CharlesPulliam London (UK) libraries have just moved to @libbyapp and it's amazing! Now I can afford to read a couple of magazines I always wanted to subscribe to, as they're for free :)

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

Note to artists - never sign for 'term of copyright', or for 'all formats in existence now and in the future'. Agree instead to fixed terms and current formats. Then re-sign again after expiry. You're welcome. 😀

[Simon Dunmore @SimonDunmore]

Announcing @DefectedRecords have acquired the global rights to the Spiller - Groovejet. A classic that has not been widely available digitally due to contractual reasons. We will be making the original versions available this summer, whilst commissioning remixes later this year.

[Patrick Langridge @patlangridge]

Nice linkbait from @BetterUp in hiring Prince Harry as Chief Impact Officer - about 600 new ref doms (and counting) 📈

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

#true Also reminds me when the UK Government 'lost' the data on 16K #coronavirus cases in October [source: https://t.co/FLRe3LtWUf]

[Wil Reynolds @wilreynolds]

Working in data, I get this now.
https://t.co/hNDKP1HY67

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

And I used to scour the London Loot pages on a Friday for the remotest chance of finding one for sale for our studio...

[Steven Lo-Presti @stevenlopresti]

@vwatergirl @theholodeck @ERAC_Jobs @gradu8recruiter @cdbarnett84 looking younger you mean 😀