Process
The process started from a real gap in Google Maps, a feature that should exist and doesn't. The design covered all app states from the start: connection, empty, loading, error, proximity. No screen is without its corresponding state.
- Real product gap
- Complete states
- Empty states
- Loading states
- Linking flow
- User settings
The NearBy user is someone who already actively uses Google Maps to save places, restaurants, shops, points of interest, and who has found themselves more than once in an area without remembering they had a saved place nearby. They don't need geolocation or notifications explained to them, they already use them daily. What they need is for the app to be transparent: working in the background without interrupting, notifying at the right moment and with simple configuration that doesn't require constant attention.
Four flows defined the design priorities. The first: Google Maps linking, the user has to connect their account before using the app, and that flow has to be clear, with its loading and error states well resolved. The second: My places, the main screen with category filter, skeleton loading, empty state and swipe to delete. The third: the place screen, the circular distance indicator with immediate reading in green or pink depending on proximity. The fourth: Settings, notification configuration, unit of measurement and notification distance with custom option.
The place screen required the most exploration. The first idea was a traffic light UI, red, amber, green, to indicate proximity. It was discarded because the traffic light has a connotation of alert or danger that didn't fit the app's tone. The second exploration was a linear progress indicator. It was discarded because it didn't convey the idea of physical distance intuitively. The final solution was a circular indicator with the numerical value in the centre, green when within the configured notification distance, pink when far away. The circle evokes radar, proximity, area, concepts more aligned with the use case than a traffic light or a progress bar.
The app is organised in three sections accessible from a bottom navigation bar: Places, User and Settings. Places is the main screen, list of saved locations with category filter and access to each place's detail. User manages Google Maps linking, with its three states: unlinked, linking and linked. Settings centralises the app's global configuration, notifications, unit of measurement and notification distance. The add place screen and the place detail screen are secondary screens accessible from Places.
