Most product ideas sound brilliant, until you try to build them.
A few days ago, I published this blogpost exploring three ways Google Maps could evolve to stay ahead. But ideas are easy. What fascinated me more was this question:
“If I were a PM at Google Maps, how would I actually bring these ideas to life?”
This post is my attempt to answer that; not with a perfect framework, but with real thinking. The messy, iterative kind that PMs actually do when trying to ship something that works for users, for teams, and for the business.
What It Takes to Ship 10x Ideas
Improving Google Maps isn’t about pitching “cool features.” It’s about solving for scale, for nuance, and for impact, without bloating the product.
That’s where Product-Led Growth (PLG) principles come in:
- Hypothesis-driven development
- User-centric experimentation
- Data-informed iteration
Let’s get into how I’d actually execute the ideas, thinking like a Maps PM, sleeves rolled up.
Prefer National Highways: Reducing Mental Load on Long Trips
The user problem: In countries like India, users often ignore the fastest route and manually switch to highways for safety or ease.
Execution:
- Hypothesis: On long routes, users prefer predictable, well-maintained highways over slightly shorter local roads.
- Build: A toggle for “Prefer Highways” on long-distance trips.
- Measure: Track feature opt-in rate and compare reroute frequency pre- and post-launch.
Simple feature. High trust impact. Great for power users who road trip often.
Dynamic Safety Alerts: Smarter, Context-Aware Routing
The opportunity: Users don’t just need directions—they want to feel safe, especially in unfamiliar or low-visibility areas.
Execution:
- Leverage Google’s data ecosystem (Maps, News, community reports) to identify risk zones dynamically.
- Build non-intrusive alerts like: “Accident-prone zone ahead” or “Poorly lit area—exercise caution.”
- Pilot with night-time routing or in cities with known safety issues.
It’s about augmenting confidence without creating panic—using UX, data, and empathy together.
Authentic Local Discovery: Beyond Star Ratings
The gap: Users want more than “highest rated.” They want real, local, memorable.
Execution:
- Partner with local contributors to build “Hidden Gems” or “Locals Recommend” tags.
- Test a “Local Lens” view that favors authenticity over popularity.
- Geo-launch in cities where cultural depth is a key part of the experience.
Measured delight beats raw engagement here. Think quality over clicks.
Scaling With Local Context
A global rollout? That’s where it gets real.
- In India, national highways are a win. In the US, some highways are deserted at night.
- Safety cues in São Paulo may focus on theft; in Europe, maybe on isolated zones or emergency access.
- Discovery preferences vary widely—some cultures seek the offbeat, others trust formal ratings more.
I’d rely on local research teams, cultural inputs, and market-specific pilots before scaling anything.
My Reflection
The real challenge of product management isn’t coming up with clever ideas—it’s translating human needs into something a team can actually build and measure.
Take something like “users want to feel safe.” That’s a powerful insight, but it’s not actionable on its own. The PM’s job is to:
- Understand the emotion
- Reframe it into a SMART goal (say, “reduce route abandonment on perceived unsafe roads by 10%”)
- Bring teams together to solve for it without losing the empathy that sparked the idea in the first place.
That’s what this exercise was all about.
Your Turn
What’s one Google Maps behavior that doesn’t quite get you—or surprises you with how well it does?
If you’ve ever found yourself ignoring its directions or wishing it “understood you better,” I’d love to hear about it. Let’s trade notes on what it means to build products that truly earn user trust.
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