Parking
Summary
As drivers approach their destination in Google Maps, nearby parking lots and garages now appear as parking pins on the map — enabling more efficient, confident, and safer arrival experiences. Prior to this launch, users received no parking guidance during the critical last moments of navigation.
Timeline
September 2023 - January 2024
Launched July 2024
Role
Lead UX Designer, UX Research Contributor (Google FTE)
Contribution
As the sole UX designer for Parking in Arrivals, I led the end-to-end design strategy and execution from framing the problem through launch.
I started by establishing foundational understanding through a literature review of prior UXR, synthesizing behavioral insights, and conducting heuristic evaluations across Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze. Because the project required delivering value with no new parking data, I developed a spectrum of “mild to wild” explorations to articulate feasible near-term solutions and a long-term vision for a more helpful parking experience.
I worked closely with the broader Arrivals UX team, a cross-functional group of designers and researchers across multiple time zones responsible for camera perspectives, the arrivals card and more. I socialized design directions early and often to drive alignment, and partnered with UXR to include parking flows in two multi-team usability studies.
Impact
Parking in Arrivals launched to X.X billion global users in July 2024, solving Google Maps' #1 unmet user need. The feature now supports XXX million daily Google Maps visits, improving arrival clarity and increasing post-trip satisfaction by X.X%.
Active Navigation
This is the surface users see as they are navigating to their destination.
Directions Overview
Before users start their trip, they can view their route on the directions overview surface.
