Faith Ong
Work
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gesture
An Apple Maps feature that informs users of the cultural and historical significance of an area.

Cultural education and awareness are often overlooked in the systems and platforms that surround us, leading to a society more prone to cultural misunderstandings and offenses. At the University of Washington, we frequently encounter Native American land acknowledgments, which have heightened our awareness of the Native American lands and territories within the state and the importance of recognizing them. However, we realize that this historical and cultural awareness is not common knowledge for many.
To address this issue, we created the Maps Cultural Historical Layer.

While our original inspiration behind this project came from our experiences and desire to recognize native lands and the historical and cultural significance of lands and places in Washington, we realized this was too narrow of a scope.
I had a key role in guiding our team to broaden our vision for this product while maintaining its ethos. Recognizing the global mission and use of the Maps app, I pushed our team to take a step back from specifically Native American land and history and to focus on our desire to recognize historical and cultural significance.

Imagining the Feature
We conducted user interviews to understand the primary use cases of Apple Maps and to explore how a historical and cultural feature could be envisioned and utilized. To stay aligned with our findings, we established guiding principles for our design decisions:
01. Communicate Effectively
Historical and cultural information can be challenging to digest. Strategically place the feature, utilize appropriate media, and convey information clearly, ensuring that raising awareness remains paramount.
02. Information is Key
The accuracy and depth of information are crucial. The content must be thoroughly researched, correct, and promote cultural understanding.
03. Adhere to the System
As a feature within Apple Maps, it must adhere to their design system and ethos.

After several explorations, we decided to create a new layer in Apple Maps. Initial reactions were positive, with users finding it user-friendly and self-explanatory. However, testing revealed that users felt the feature might not be used daily due to the amount of information and their typical daily use of the app (mostly for commuting).
Equipped with this feedback, we focused on making the feature more approachable in appearance, information, and usability. We also refined the visual system to better align with the existing Apple Maps design.

Cultural education and awareness often take a backseat in our society and education system, leading to a society that is more susceptible to cultural misunderstandings and offenses.
The Cultural Historical Layer aims to boost user awareness by informing users about the cultural and historical context and significance of their surroundings.