Author: Mr.Yu

Hello everyone, I’m Mr.Yu.

Thanks to the holiday makeup work, even the early madness of KFC’s crazy Thursday jokes seems powerless. Recalling the just-ended holiday, how many electric car owners have taken their families on a trip, only to almost exhaust their last few kilometers of endurance waiting in the long queue for charging?

However, this time we will not discuss the topic of the range and charging difficulty of new energy vehicles that fuel car purists love to see, but instead we will switch to a track that is closely related to every car owner but is frequently criticized: navigation.

So, I interviewed a car owner who drove 500 kilometers during the holiday. What interested me the most was his acting art-like move: he did not rely on the car navigation system that he usually uses, but instead simultaneously used two smartphones to run different navigation apps and recorded the performance of the navigation for several consecutive days. Afterward, he also made a detailed analysis.

The result made him very dissatisfied with the lack of innovation of navigation manufacturers, to the point that he angrily uninstalled the navigation app on his phone.

My friend who talked with me, we call him “Mr. K” according to our usual habit. Mr. K is a product manager in the transportation industry, and he is also a new energy vehicle owner.

Unfortunately, because it involves Mr. K’s personal privacy, I cannot share the video recordings of more than ten gigabytes from the two phones in the form of screenshots or other ways.

In order to maintain the completeness of the content as much as possible while considering readability, this time I will present the conversation in a way that restores the conversation content. It is not a formal interview, and there will be some of my personal observations and thoughts in the communication.

If you are interested, you can guess which navigation A and navigation B are mentioned today, or you can tell us in the comments.

The following is the transcript of the conversation between Mr. Yu@GeekCar and Mr. K.

Mr. Yu@GeekCar:

Actually, I’m quite curious. What did you experience during the National Day holiday?

Mr. K:

During this year’s National Day holiday, I drove with my family for several consecutive days, including city, ring road, highway, and suburban areas. I had two phones open at the same time, running navigation apps A and B respectively, and recording the entire process while searching for the same destination.

Generally speaking, people tend to think that mobile phone navigation is more reliable than car navigation. To avoid interference, I deliberately ignored the navigation system in the car this time.### Mr. Yu@GeekCar:

Before we start, let’s set the tone first. Do you want to talk about this from an industry perspective or a user perspective?

Mr. K:

I’ll just be an ordinary user, considering that most of your previous interviews were from an industry perspective.

Mr. Yu@GeekCar:

Ordinary users like you don’t usually have dual navigation and screen recording capabilities, and still write thousands of words of experience reports.

Mr. K:

How can we know without comparison?

Some people say that it only represents personal opinions and cannot represent the group of car owners. So, what quantity of change can cause a qualitative change? I dare not hope to be the one shouting “Being an emperor is not as good as being a woman”, but someone has to let everyone know what technology and hard work really mean. That is meaningful.

You see, when I usually browse forums in the car owner app, there are many people calling on the officials to upgrade the car navigation, which only stays at version 4.x while the new version of the on-board computer has been upgraded to 6.4.

Another group of car owners has been calling on officials to upgrade the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820A on the car to 8155. But, as you know, this matter is basically unsolvable.

The original intention of upgrading navigation is that they think the new version is basically consistent with the V12 version of the mobile phone end experience.

Mr. Yu@GeekCar:

Now I understand.

To be specific, the Qualcomm 820A may not be so slow that it is unacceptable, but many people will feel that they are too outdated when they experience the silk-like smoothness of 8155-equipped models.

So, some experiences are irreversible, and there is no harm without comparison.

Mr. K:

Yes. So I summarized after the fact that the problems or grievances can be divided into five categories. Let’s talk about the differences between A navigation and B navigation first, and then we will look at why I uninstalled the mobile navigation.

First, the one I am most dissatisfied with is the difference in algorithms.

One day, I was driving with both A navigation and B navigation on, and the route was from my home to Wangfujing APM. The routes they gave me were different, of course, their underlying logic may be based on the real-time road conditions to determine and plan the route.

So, the problem is that the first difference is that the two navigations have different road conditions. Then I followed the B navigation first and it took me to a very narrow hutong (alley), which included an operation of making me turn around.You know, my family car is quite long and I would prefer to stick to the main road. Turning around in the alleyways can easily lead to getting stuck between cars, so I try to avoid narrow roads as much as possible.

Unfortunately, this situation has happened more than once and A Navigation always directs me to take the main road. Although it may take longer, it saves me a lot of trouble.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

I understand. It’s like when I sometimes go to the narrow bars near Gulou, but DiDi always drops me off at the south or north entrance of Nanluoguxiang. I have to walk three or four hundred meters to get there. It’s not fun if the alleyway is blocked.

Mr.K:

That’s right. It also leads to differences in prompt notifications.

For example, when there is a shortcut, A Navigation actively prompts me and I can find a new route that is more time-saving.

B Navigation is quite interesting. It also reminds me of new routes, but there is no voice prompt, only a notification on the interface. Moreover, this prompt is not very conspicuous. I can’t stare at my phone while driving, so how could I know?

Then I try to update the route by myself, but it automatically switches back to the previous one after less than 5 seconds. This situation has repeatedly occurred several times.

If this is not a bug, it means that the operation is too complicated and the interaction is not friendly. I’m not sure whether you want me to drive or not.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

So, you want to improve efficiency while minimizing the need to look at your phone and reduce distractions.

Mr.K:

Yes. You see, even the most basic route planning can differ greatly across different platforms.

The second thing is the difference in display.

We all know that driving navigation has an overview that tells you how much of the journey has been completed, where you are, and shows the road conditions ahead in red, yellow, and green colors.

A Navigation has a simple interface with a vertical line on the right-hand side, which looks a bit like a thermometer, very clear and intuitive.

B Navigation is different. It has a very, very thin progress bar at the bottom of the entire interface, also showing road conditions in red, yellow, and green colors.

To be honest, I might not even notice it if I wasn’t looking for it.

If you’re an experienced driver, you might not pay attention to every detail. You might mainly focus on the road conditions, whether it’s congested, and whether you can get timely guidance. And that’s it.Actually, I understand that everyone has been working on navigation for many years. During the process of product iteration, there will always be some updates and the pursuit of different styles. However, the design of B navigation is relatively unappealing. I am not always looking at my phone, and this design looks advanced but is actually not efficient and also tiring to use.

Mr. Yu @ GeekCar:

Understood. There is no need to be different just for the sake of being different.

Mr. K:

Right. Actually, there is a problem that arises from this, which is the difference in the complexity of the interface.

I won’t mention specific name(s), you can check by yourself. When both navigations are opened, one of them will be simpler, highlighting the key Points of Interest (POI) information and some buildings, while information such as dense road networks will be displayed in a more subdued way, which will give people a more concise feeling.

The other one is not the same, after opening the application, the information will be presented in a mess, without any emphasis. Perhaps the team wants to present information as comprehensively as possible and let the user distinguish it themselves. However, this will create a problem, which is that the appearance is very messy.

If there is a specific point I want to find, the first thing I should do is enter the search box. Therefore, I don’t need such rich or complex information for specific positioning.

Of course, my opinion is based on personal habits and preferences, and does not represent everyone.

Mr. Yu @ GeekCar:

It doesn’t matter, it’s a matter of personal preference. I also prefer a simpler interface.

Mr. K:

There is also a difference in the road conditions, which may involve the core experience, and I may speak in a more detailed way.

For example, when I drive to a congested road section, the reminders given by the two navigations are different.

For example, if a road has a speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour, then it is not slow if it is less than 30 kilometers per hour. Conversely, if I can only drive at 30 or even 20 on a 120 km/h highway, then it is already slow.

There is some difference between A and B in this regard. For example, B is still displayed in yellow, while A has already displayed it as red.

This can actually affect the driver and cause misjudgment. If I only use one navigation application and see that this road is yellow, at least it is stronger than red, and then I find various blockages ahead, then I will definitely not think it is my own problem. Therefore, the prompt of this kind of road condition information will directly affect the driver’s judgment.Translated English Markdown:

More specifically, for example, the real-time reminders of road accidents are too similar between the two. Of course, from my perspective, or from the perspective of an average user, it may not be solved quickly because it may involve information collection channels. Why is one relatively accurate and the other not as accurate?

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

Is it possible that each platform deliberately increases the user’s migration cost?

Because many designs are not unified, users who used another navigation for a few days found various discomforts and had to go back to the previous one, which is equivalent to forcing users to stay on their own platform by other means.

Mr.K:

This possibility cannot be ruled out. I have visited Factory A. They have some cooperation with the Municipal Traffic Police Bureau, as well as with leasing companies. In addition, the terminal’s market share may promote more accurate information and stronger real-time performance.

Of course, this is a personal judgment. And B is now doing well, stronger than before. It’s not about praising or criticizing, it’s about the obvious differences in experience between platforms.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

I see, this actually involves core experience.

For many people, traveling is still a relatively small scene, and more people commute daily. The commuting route is already familiar every day, and the navigation is more about grasping the time and planning through real-time traffic conditions.

Let’s continue.

Mr.K:

Yes. Another issue is the accuracy of the displayed information.

During the long holiday, one day we were going to a far place and passed through a tunnel on the way. A navigation prompted us that the length of the tunnel was 200 meters, while B navigation prompted only 150 meters.

In my opinion, this is a problem. So later I checked several maps by myself, which was very interesting. Actually, it was 200 meters. For this one issue, you may think that I am picky.

Also, if there are more inaccuracies in information broadcast like this, it will give people a bad experience. Or, the trust level needs to be discounted.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

This is indeed so. Ordinary users may not care about the truth of this, but navigation is still a platform that provides accurate information, and this issue still needs to be taken seriously.

—### Mr.K:

Yes. Another fancy feature is the differences in navigation voice packs.

As a differentiation experience, it’s quite interesting to observe the operating strategies of navigation voice packs.

Broadly speaking, they can be divided into two categories: one is celebrity voices, and the other is voice packs for IP characters in games, animations, etc. For example, A navigation recently pushed a collaboration voice pack with the Genshin Impact game. B navigation mainly promotes many celebrity voice packs, which are very rich. They range from well-known celebrities to many young up-and-comers.

What I want to say is that, comparatively speaking, the feeling of the celebrity voices I used on B navigation wasn’t very good. Mainly because the anthropomorphism was lacking a bit, and the mechanical feel of the tone and accent was a little stronger. In this regard, A navigation does a better job, and the feeling it gives is more comfortable.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

I understand. Perhaps the training level of the voice still needs to be improved.

I’ve heard before that the earliest celebrity voice packs, such as those of Lin Chi-ling and Guo Degang, may require the celebrities themselves to personally record several hundred or even thousands of words in the right tone and accent, which are then repeatedly trained by AI until they become what we see today.

Later, with the advancement of technology, it was no longer necessary to record so many words or go through such a tedious process. I haven’t paid attention for a long time, but the last time I saw it, recording about 500-600 words would be enough to generate a usable voice pack.

Mr.K:

Yes. Actually, it’s easy to understand. The time of public figures is very precious, literally speaking.

Compared to the working hours of CVs (voice actors for specific characters), authorization fees for well-known IP may be more expensive.

Back to the point. So, after testing for the last few days, I found nearly 30 issues, which can be summarized into these points we mentioned before: differences in route algorithms, displays, road conditions, accuracy, and voice experience.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

Overall, A navigation is more reliable than B navigation. Aren’t you afraid readers will say that A has paid us?

Mr.K:

That would be the problem you need to face – I’m kidding.

In fact, whether it’s A or B, speaking only about navigation, both are doing pretty well, so we’re discussing the details of the experience.

But there’s a bigger problem for me as a new energy vehicle owner. Whether it’s A navigation or B navigation, I don’t think either is friendly enough – or, not yet friendly enough. That’s why I uninstalled all the navigation apps on my phone.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

This is not right, is it? According to the data of the Ministry of Public Security, as of the end of September 2022, the total number of new energy vehicles in China is about 11.49 million (Author’s note: This is about 4% of the total number of vehicles in China).

But now, navigation for new energy vehicles is already a standard accessory, right?

Mr.K:

So, as a new energy vehicle owner, the most common problems we face are parking and charging.

Of course, parking is a headache for every driver, especially in some commercial areas where parking spaces are operated by themselves. Many parking lot information is not connected to the navigation platform, so you may find that you cannot find a vacant parking space, and you have to go around and around to find a parking space. This is already a chronic problem.

Why is navigation for new energy vehicles not satisfactory? On the mobile side, navigation for new energy vehicles is largely reflected in how to save electricity when routing. In my opinion, this is also the main understanding of the navigation platform.

As mentioned earlier, parking, including mine, often comes with charging. At this time, if I want to get some active recommendations for charging piles at the destination, I often cannot get them. In other words, I have to screen the venue according to my own parking needs.

But in reality, on the one hand, the operating status displayed by the navigation system may differ from the actual operating status. You may find that there are no empty piles when you arrive at the parking and charging location. Or the operating status of some venues cannot be viewed at all, and whether there are empty piles or not depends on luck.

Of course, I also know that this cannot be completely blamed on the navigation platform, because this involves the integration and access capabilities of offline resources.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

Somehow, you think that the underlying logic of new energy navigation is still based on traditional navigation, and the way to differentiate is to add some scenarios that may be used, and provide an option to prioritize power saving.

Mr.K:

Yes. Let me reiterate that if we consider parking and charging, the experience of using mobile navigation now is still somewhat fragmented: often, my planned route is one thing, parking and charging is another thing, plus some missing active services, the experience is not very good.

As a new energy vehicle owner, I still hope to get more active and accurate navigation services.

Here’s an interesting fact. I bought the tickets for my trip to Gubei Water Town through A navigation.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

I think we can elaborate on this.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

I searched for the name on the navigation at that time. In addition to providing information about the scenic spot, it also directly provided the entrance to buy tickets. After using the official discounts, the price of each ticket was even cheaper than the platforms specialized in providing consumption information that we all know.

Why am I mentioning this? I think it is an advantage for navigation. It is a natural process from guidance to conversion of consumer behavior.

Otherwise, according to the habits of most people, we still have to enter through the consumption information platform and then jump to the navigation side through the entrance provided by it.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

In fact, platform B is involved in everything, so according to their business logic, they naturally hope to fix all user behavior in their ecology. However, no matter which platform it is, the ability to integrate commercial resources has its limitations, and this is a continuous investment and operation process.

Mr.K:

Yes, you’re right.

Going back to the topic we talked about at the beginning, I still think that the basic capabilities of mobile navigation are already very good. As automobile intelligence becomes more and more popular, after entering the car, if the onboard navigation is not particularly slow, everyone will still use the car’s navigation for convenience and efficiency.

After generation after generation of polishing, navigation is no longer simply about safely and efficiently helping people move from point A to point B. Therefore, some design details, inconsistent standards, inaccurate information, and other issues should still be taken seriously. As you said, if the experience is not good, it will increase the user’s migration cost to other platforms- if your argument is valid, then such a move will have a very negative impact.

Perhaps I will install mobile navigation back at some point, but for now, the car’s navigation application can fully meet my needs.

Based on this understanding, we certainly hope that the navigation experience on the car side can be enriched. At least the version can keep up, instead of the large gap between our V4.6 and the latest V6.5 with many small versions.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

That’s good. By the way, our conversation today is not as consumer-oriented as we initially agreed upon.### Mr.K:

Oh hi, look at you, talking like there’s a word called “professional users”?

Conclusion

Through the discussion of the details of the navigation experience with Mr. K, I learned that the problems I encountered before could perhaps have been avoided.

I recalled an embarrassing incident over a decade ago. I had to attend offline training for several consecutive days, but I was unfamiliar with the complicated terrain and didn’t leave any contact information for relevant personnel beforehand. I held up my old Symbian phone and looked at the location, which changed every few seconds, but I couldn’t confirm where I was. After circling around the supposed location for a while, I had to give up. In the end, I missed out on the training because I was late.

I also experienced a situation where my girlfriend and I planned to drive to a restaurant near the Peony Garden, but when we switched from the app with consumption information to the navigation app, we were directed to the doors of a very similar restaurant very close by. Facing our confusion, the calmness of the waiter made me suspect that the “friendly rival” paid the navigation to misguide us.

Even as I write these words, I decided to try out two navigation applications, A and B. The result of this test provided me with a conclusion.

From my current location, it appears that turning right and going straight would allow me to exit the park. In reality, the road in front of me is a pedestrian walkway where cars are not allowed to pass. To exit correctly, I need to follow the outer circle route on the right-hand-side navigation.

They say the details determine success or failure. In fact, these conclusions and the choices made by users based on their own judgments are precisely the accumulation of every detail, every satisfaction, and every disappointment.

No one knows which time or which point will prompt users to vote with their feet, or which will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.