Why did Google Maps turn ugly?

Question

I've always enjoyed Google Maps having a light-feeling interface.In the last few weeks though, it started feeling very heavy and ugly. I am not sure why?I think a lot more areas are now shaded in various grays instead of plain white, which adds to feeling of heaviness and mental distraction of colours... Meanwhile roads have moved from bright, easily seen high-contrast yellow with thin outline, to blah-gray, which blends with new shadings, so they've thickened the outline to try to compensate.It feels significantly worse, to me at least, and I'm not sure why/when changes were made (note: Firefox and Chrome on Windows 10 and 11. My iOS app seems to still be OK, Android app seems to slowly be switching over).

afjeafaj848 · Accepted Answer

Its really simple:The PMs/designers and everyone involved need a big project for all of them to get to the next level.Otherwise what else would they do if there just isn't a big impact project available to work on? There would be no way to advance in their careers.The incentive of any individual in an organization is not to please the users of the product, its to make the manager happy and meet the job matrix of the next level.Those incentives drive the product outcomes and the product mirrors the organization

blindstitch · Answer

I find it harder to read the traffic overlay with the very reduced contrast of the new styling. There is a road that I drive on every commute that is right next to a much larger highway that renders 3 times as wide. The two blend together and it is illegible unless I zoom in much more than I used to.

tssva · Answer

Different strokes for different folks. I think it looks much better.

cbhl · Answer

You might be seeing the updated color scheme (https://blog.google/products/maps/google-maps-october-2023-u...). My understanding is that the new scheme is intended to better match the real world: roads are grey (!), water is a different shade of blue, parks are a different shade of green, that sort of thing. If you're not seeing it yet on iOS yet you should expect it there too (eventually).(Disclaimer: Work at Google, but not on Maps.)

Saris · Answer

It's interesting, I guess it could be considered more ugly, but it's also much easier to read now. I can near-instantly locate roads and stuff around me from a glance, whereas before it took a lot of hunting around.

washadjeffmad · Answer

I use Google Earth in VR, and it seems to improve by leaps and bounds every year. I'm not sure if or how this intersects with Maps, exactly, but the experience from Earth view to Street view has greatly improved roughly lining up with the Maps changes.

gitgud · Answer

There was a submission related to that here
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38398751
Not sure about the reasoning... probably not accessibility though, as the land/sea seems much less contrasting than it was before...

urda · Answer

Because Google and Googlers are a culture of shipping things to ship things, and the idea of maintenance and long term customer support does not exist at Google or in Googler's minds.

jryan49 · Answer

I think it's much better. I can actually read the map now when it's giving me directions.

392 · Answer

I found changing my phone display from Vivid colors to Flat helped.

aristofun · Answer

This is how big companies decline.Simple answer - because nobody really cares.

seydor · Answer

winter blues