Route directions

Route Directions

WHAT

Provide instructions and guidance on how to get somewhere.

WHEN

Directions are common to travel applications and store locators, in short any application that needs to route somebody (from and) to a specific place.

HOW

The following types of directions exist:

  • Map (visual route)
  • List (turn by turn)
  • Navigate segments

Your application may use one or many direction types with the map being a good complement to visualize the complete route (list) or a piece of it (segment). Further output can be metadata including travel time and distance which can be reported for the complete route but also for each segment.
Each segment can be considered an instruction on how to travel along the route and what kind of maneuver to expect.

Inputs to directions are a typically two locations (positioning) with the potential to add more stops along or beyond the route and additional inputs to change travel modes (e.g. drive versus walk, time of day, consider traffic,…). Any of these inputs should be adjustable to fit the need of the user and the situation.

Directions may require different types of visualization to depict that something changes (e.g. floor transition), something special is required (e.g. access restrictions) or certain assumptions have been made (e.g. traffic congestion considered).

One thought on “Route directions”

Leave a Reply