PLANNING A ROUTE
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Context
…you want to build a tool that helps people plan and navigate along routes - NAVIGATION SYSTEM. One of the main tasks a user will probably perform with this tool is to plan a route.
Problem statement
Telling the system where they want to go is one of the main tasks users will perform with a navigation system. This process of entering the needed data should be as easy, intuitive, diverse and flexible as possible. How can all these requirements be fulfilled?
Problem description with forces
Planning a route is task a user has to deal with every time she wants to travel to a place where she does not know exactly how to get there.
The route may either be a one that will only be traveled once or it may be a frequently used route. For the latter one the user does want to enter information only once and save them somehow.
When planning a route the user does not want to think about how to get all needed information into the system. They just want an intuitive and fast way to perform the task.
Examples
With traditional paper maps it was very difficult to plan a route. People had to identify the location to start at, the destination and waypoints on the map and than had to find the shortest path between those locations on their own.
Today's navigation systems aid users by giving them different means to plan a route. They display the needed locations and calculate the best route immediately.
To realize those means they provide different features for entering location data. These include diverse input mechanisms like text entry, selection in a map etc. Some systems also provide favorite lists in which frequently used routes can be stored. By that a user only has to select a specific route and can start immediately.
Solution
Therefore:
As one important feature of a navigation system, include several easy to use, flexible and interchangeable means that allow the user to tell the system where she wants to go. Provide a function for storing and managing frequently used routes as well as features for entering new routes.
When offering the user to plan a route, make both features easy accessible.
Diagram
References
Planning a route can be split into two main functions. With ROUTE FAVORITES the most important routes can be added to a favorites list for rapid reuse. CREATING NEW ROUTES provides all the different means to input departure, destination and interstation and additional factors for calculating new routes.
