Three dumb ideas I came up with that would make my life a lot easier

2 points by trump2016 9 years ago | 2 comments

2 ideas for GPS (eg Google Maps), 1 idea for web browsers

I'd really appreciate it if you guys gave me some feedback on these ideas because I curious to see if I'm the only one who thinks they're good or if they're legitimately good ideas.

For GPS:

1. Allow users to control the speed that the GPS voice gives directions at. EX: Give directions X miles out from turn.

Sometimes the GPS will give directions to turn right, but I'm in the left lane and it's just too far away. I end up having to either make a U-turn or have the GPS recalculate my route.

Literally everyone I've mentioned this to thinks this is a great idea. I'm not too sure about the other two.

2. Also, let the user change the frequency that directions are given (EX: at least every X minutes.) This would be helpful on long stretches of highway when the GPS isn't saying anything anymore and you're not sure if you're going the right way anymore. (I mean, you probably are, but the fact that the GPS is no longer giving you directions is just a little bit anxiety-inducing sometimes.)

For web browsers:

3. Give users better control of deleting tabs. Right now on Chrome I have two options: close other tabs, or close tabs to the right. These are both pretty terrible in my opinion because if I want to save more than one tab it assumes that all the tabs I want to keep are grouped together. A better option would be to allow users to mark the tabs that they want to save so that when you say "close other tabs," it just closes the tabs that aren't marked. After closing the other tabs, the saved tabs automatically become unmarked.

lj3 9 years ago |

The problem with the first two is how would you communicate that to the user? You could make it a configurable option in a settings menu somewhere, but most people don't bother with those. Even those that do bother with the settings probably only think of changing it when they're actively getting directions, not after they've reached their destination, and so the setting never gets changed. That leaves making it an option while you're trying to follow the directions, which is also a bad idea since you're busy trying to drive.

I do agree that GPS apps should be more user friendly. Maybe an app with voice commands so you can ask questions? Like "Am I still going the right way?" or "When's the next turn?" or "Update me every mile"

As for the last one: there are dozens of tab management extensions for chrome. I'm sure you can find one that does what you're looking for.

brudgers 9 years ago |

This might make a better story if it were written up as a blog post and submitted as a link.

Good luck.