Is problem definition the stepchild of UX design?
Illustrated by the recently launched Cycling feature of Google Maps in Hungary
Disclaimer: This article is not a complete UX audit or comprehensive analysis of the Google Map’s Cycling Feature in Hungary, but to illustrate that an inadequate problem definition can mislead product development and make the product almost unusable. I am not a related party, I do not have any personal or material connection to any of the cycling or similar applications as well as I am not linked to Google or any of Google’s competitors. Some illustrations of past bad practices in this article may be out of date due to improvements, but this does not affect the substance of what is being said.
Introduction: the basic problem definition
In Medium you find 58K stories for UX design, 10.5K for prototyping and 13 for problem definition, 51 for statement and 51 for framing¹. You might think because the problem definition is simple. This is not always the case.
On November 4, 2021, Google announced the Cycling feature on Google Maps in Hungary². It received strong publicity, which raised expectations. Let me quote from the press:
‘Government representative: In the introduction of the new service, the Government Commissioner for Active Hungary in strategic partnership with Google provided the latest data on cycling routes in Hungary.³ So if you want to travel safely, avoid the crowds, or just choose a more sustainable alternative to commuting to work, playing sports, or simply riding one, Google Maps will find the best route for each. After almost 3 years of preparation, cycling route planning on Google Maps will finally start in Hungary today, for which the database was provided by Magyar Közút and Budapest Közút. Of the neighbouring countries, this function only works in Austria and only in Poland in the Central and Eastern European region.
Google: As this feature appears right next to car directions in Google Maps, we hope that Hungarians will be the first to think about cycling and that more people will be encouraged to use their bikes to go to work or in their free time.’⁴
Google received all the input like no other player before. Google has a unique track record and know-how with more than 1 billion people using Google Maps every month and more than 5 million active apps and websites using Google Maps products every week.⁵ This is why there was a lot of anticipation, and also because the apps built so far have either been limited to an area only, were inaccurate, and/or had an outdated UI. If there is a company that can do it right that is Google you would think.
One of my UX teammates described Google to me as extreme: its solutions are either industry standards or unusable. It came to my mind when I tapped in a few searches and the feature threw out an old busy main road instead of the recently award-winning EU-standard separated cycling path as you see it on the cover picture. In another search, it did not even show the pavement of the cycle path, which is already handed over one of the most prominent tourist areas as you see below.
Why did this go wrong? In my view, because the problem definition has multiple levels and needs to be placed in a specific context. How? I try to describe.
Placing the problem in a multidimensional context
The simple, basic level of the problem definition is a comprehensive national map showing the routes that can be reached by bicycle is needed. The current Cycling option in Google Maps is best suited for this, with current limitations.
In Hungary, however, such a definition of the problem is not sufficient, in fact, it is inadequate. It becomes immediately apparent when I present a snapshot of the context of cycling very briefly.
Politics: The development and handover of cycle paths have become an exposed topic in Hungary. Politicians even hand over the bike path, which is not built, practically. Cycling paths are part of the political competition. The government officials already mention Hungary as the 3rd largest cycling nation (after the Netherlands and Denmark), which is flattering. In fact, for much of the country’s geographical area, it has been a means of transport for decades due to poverty or lifestyle and cannot be compared to a Dutch-Danish city biking or northern Italian, French sports biking culture at all.
What may be beneficial, however, is that the topic of cycling has come to the fore and funding resources are expected to use more rationally and thoughtfully for separated cycling paths by EU standards. Some good examples are already gone live:
Geography: Hungary is ideal terrain for the development of cycling: 84% of the country’s territory is located between 78m and 200m above sea level. Something like this just to have a feeling:
98% is below 400m altitudes. Hungary belongs to a limited number of countries which has ideal geographic preconditions for widespread cycling and to exploit its touristic and sport potential through three seasons and to make it a real city transport alternative.
Pandemic effects: In Hungary, 71% of the adult population used to cycle more or less often, according to the Hungarian National Bicycle Club’s 2020 national representative survey. Only 16% of adults use bicycles for daily commuting, but there is a significant variation by region. The highest rate in the Southern Great Plain is 35%, while the lowest is 6% in Budapest.
As a pandemic effect mostly, 16% more bicycles were sold in 2020 compared to 2019, a trend that is expected to continue at a slowing pace in 2021 (due to supply chain problems). The capital shows the change due to the epidemic the most. In 2020, 57% of Budapest residents said they ride a bike at least once or twice a week, compared to 51% in the 2018 survey. The ratio in Budapest for daily commuting increased further in 2021 due to the avoidance of public transport. Biking has clearly broken through as a means of city transport. To serve this, bicycle lanes have been painted in the cities. Countryside bike trips were also on the rise as a result of travel restrictions abroad. I predict double-digit growth in 2020–2021 with penetration reaching double-digit too in Budapest for commuting to work.
Infrastructure: The infrastructure alone, but especially coared to the geography, is underdeveloped. A number of cycle path developments have taken place from funding available in the previous EU budget period (2007–2013).⁶ In several cases, they were built quickly with inappropriate and non-uniform technical content in order to avoid the withdrawal of funding at the end of the budget period. The risks posed by the low technical standards are not reflected in the existing cycling maps and apps for these types of paths.
Typical examples are a parking bar or electricity pylon in the middle of the path, a cycling path occupying the pedestrian one, a cycling path with various covers, a fragmented asphalt cover, and a cycle path that ends without any transition, continuation or connection to anything. Countryside examples:
The situation in Budapest is no better either. Some examples:
Even the sections of the roads around the better-known lakes Balaton, Velencei tó that can be cycled around were not built to the same EU standard, but varied.
Another problem with infrastructure is that cycling roads are fragmented and do not form a coherent country or at least even a citywide network. And the supporting infrastructure has not been built either (toilets, services, shops, accommodation). Their presence is sporadic at least.
The government officials stated that in the budget period of the European Union for 2014-2020, significant bicycle road development projects are to be implemented in the total value of EUR 540m, which means the construction of 2,100 kilometres of independent cycle paths and the designation of another 2,100 kilometres with signage and painting on low-traffic roads. It is said that about 1,600 kilometres of cycling routes since 2010 has been built up to 2021, and there are currently 9,200 kilometres of cycling facilities in Hungary, of which 5,100 kilometres are the road that can be ridden by bicycle and 4,100 kilometres are independent cycle paths or walking and cycling routes. The total length of the cycling road network consisting of all road types will approach 15,000 kilometres by 2030. Another goal is to connect the fragmented cycle paths.
Bicycle apps: there are a few domestic cycling apps, some of which were created a long ago, with great enthusiasm and effort, try to incorporate community comments and tips, so those deserve all the respect. Most of those only cover some areas, a really national one that has been around for a long time, has a UI that can not be considered state-of-the-art by today’s eyes, obviously, but it’s free.
Morale, culture, and safety: morale in transport showed some progress in the last three decades, albeit at a very low pace and still underdeveloped. Only 2% of Hungarians say that the order is on Hungarian roads, and the majority say that the morale in transport is frustrating, according to a recent, representative survey sponsored and published by OTP Bank in late 2021. 61% consider aggressive driving is one of the biggest problems. 59% finds traffic offences against pedestrians should not be tolerated, which also means they have seen a lot. It is an everyday phenomenon that every 10th car stops at the pedestrian crossing when there is a pedestrian sideways.
Even in respected and popular professional forums, when it comes to the recommended winter equipment for cycling, the helmet is lacking. In social media’s cycling forums there is still no consensus on wearing a helmet on every occasion, every type of path despite accidents and injuries happens ‘daily’ known by all.
As far as I remember it is still possible to buy a bicycle in the shops without the mandatory safety equipment (since it is cheaper than a fully equipped one in the other shop).
The morale of cyclists is not much different from that of car or motorbike drivers. Cyclists can drive vehicles on one-way streets. But they would have to stop at a red light, in principle they would not be able to go on the sidewalk, they would have to push the bike over in a pedestrian crossing. These are still violated to a great extent today. Of course, the vast majority don’t wear a reflective vest either. The use of lighting is still not fully spread. While there is zero tolerance by law for alcohol consumption when driving, this is sometimes interpreted more flexibly by city cyclists.
Cities rushed and have painted and designated cycle paths in this transport culture, partly due to pandemics and partly in respect to greening transport as a strategic goal. Crossing in most cases was not solved properly. Cyclists need to go through other intersecting car or pedestrian traffic.
Applications typically do not indicate the pavement of possible roads either, so it is not explicitly known whether road racing or triathlon bike, city bike, trekking, or mountain bike is suitable for it. Outside the city, they often show hiking trails based on tips, not on actual existing paths.
The safety issue is key when it comes to cycling in Hungary. In a sense, it is easy to neglect this with existing applications. To understand it plastically. If you look at the example of Budapest, at first it seems that the cycle path network weaves through the city on the left chart below.
Types of paths: You recognise the cacophony of bike path types, eg: independent cycle path, pedestrian and bicycle path, bicycle lane / shared bus lane, a one-way road that can be used in two directions by bicycle, painted bicycle lane on the edge of a normal road, a bicycle lane mechanically separated at the edge of the normal road, non-asphalt cycle paths at least.
Each definition implies a different level of accident risk in my view, or sometimes even bike type dependent on the surface. So, if you filter to the definition of independent cycle path (on the right chart), you will see that it does not add up to a connected network being one general problem of the Hungarian cycling infrastructure.
Redefining the definition
So our problem definition sounds like we need to have a clear definition of the cycling path because of the heterogeneity described above. And because paths have different levels of risks and a different type of bike is appropriate.
Based on the overall infrastructural and socio-cultural context, it is of key importance to define the bicycle road as a path built independently and completely separated from all other traffic roads dedicated to cycling, and built according to current EU standards.
In common parlance, the path you can let an equipped child under the age of 10 go alone is, and of course, you get him/her back alive.
Thus, in my view, a proper cycling application is advised to be able to distinguish path types transparently for safety aspects, simply; how to get to their start- and endpoints by the public or individual transport; what the parking options are. Of course, it can show other practical functions, but I think the above is the basis.
Similarly, it is not advised to use the algorithm of other means of transport eg. a car showing the fastest route, since the users’ aspects may vary. The priority for the majority of cyclists could be the declining level of safety. In other words, who wants to go in heavy traffic if there is a safe(r) alternative?
Concluding remarks
To sum it up, in a cycling environment like the current Hungarian one which comes from cacophony but developing remarkably fast, the definition of the problem cannot stand at the top level, that is,” we need a countrywide bicycle map.” It is also not advised to apply solutions mechanically taken from elsewhere due to the multi-layered context. The current feature results in frustrating but more importantly risk-increasing results for many users. In this case, I would definitely recommend a clear separation of the newly built EU-standard cycle paths from the rest and the related infrastructure in the search algorithm. I also could have imagined a different, gradual implementation of this feature, launching it county by county or starting with the most popular tourist destination etc. thus, not to hand it all over at once.
Again, it is not an audit or criticism of the feature which cyclists very much waited for and needed if working properly. With this simple example, my objective was to illustrate that the definition of a problem is not necessarily trivial in many cases or as the low frequency of professional publications suggest. A problem could have several layers, thus, it is advised to examine its context multi-dimensionally.
For foreign tourists I would like to emphasize that the cycling infrastructure is evolving very excitingly in Hungary, thus, I suggest it as a cycling destination, despite the challenges described above.
Thank you for reading this article. It is my pleasure to recommend my other writings here on Medium and you can reach me here.
Footnotes:
¹If you search for topics in the top search field of Medium then click the relevant categories from the available tags, you can see the stories and writers statistics for the relevant category/tag in the right section. Authors can use up to 5 tags to categorize their article.
²’From now on, cyclists will also be navigated by Google’ article published in bikemag.hu on 04.11. 2021. It is a local online cycling portal since 1999; see original article.
³Source: see in the original article: ’From now on, cyclists will also be navigated by Google’ article published in bikemag.hu on 04.11. 2021.
⁴Source: Pál Bíró, Country Manager of Google in Hungary in ’From now on, cyclists will also be navigated by Google’ (original article).
⁵Source: Ethan Russell, Product Director, September 30, 2019 ‘9 things to know about Google’s maps data: Beyond the Map’. This also means that the cited figures are likely much higher in early 2022.
⁶Source: Zoltán Erdős, Member of the Audit Committee of the Hungarian Cycling Club: ’How do we not spend EU money on cycling-related developments?’ published in kerekparosklub.hu the portal of the Hungarian Cycling Club (original article).
