MAPQUEST
Improving user experience and partner referral performance
Verizon
SUMMARY
I joined the MapQuest team as Senior UX Designer to address a critical challenge: the site was struggling to retain users and drive high-quality referral traffic to hotel partners.
Over 8 weeks, I led design sprints using the Double Diamond process—Discover, Define, Design, and Deliver. My focus areas included redesigning search functionality, restructuring information architecture, and refining key UI components.
The result was a significantly improved experience with measurable gains in user satisfaction scores and referral traffic to hotel partners.
My Role: Senior UX Designer leading end-to-end design and research, collaborating with a fellow designer, Product Manager, Engineering Lead, and subject matter experts.
THE PROBLEM
Users struggled with MapQuest's fundamental features due to confusing navigation and unreliable search results. The cluttered interface made it challenging to find and act on key information, leading to task abandonment.
Discovery workshops revealed three critical issues:
- •Poor user retention and high abandonment rates
- •Low-quality referral traffic to hotel partners
- •Declining user satisfaction metrics
The interface suffered from years of feature accumulation without strategic design consideration. Users faced friction at every touchpoint, creating a compounding problem where declining satisfaction reduced partner referral quality, threatening the business model.
“I really love how this looks and how the chiclets stack.”
CUSTOMER JOURNEY
Through journey mapping, I identified critical pain points throughout the user experience. The journey revealed two primary user archetypes with overlapping needs.
Trip Planning Parent: When I need to plan a long trip, I need to find quality hotels and restaurants along the way to pre-secure accommodations and save time.
Business Traveler: When I travel for business, I need to easily book loyalty member accommodations to build loyalty points and save on business expenses.
Both groups struggled with unreliable search results and confusing interface patterns that made simple tasks unnecessarily complex.
“Map navigation feels more natural compared to the previous version”
DESIGN APPROACH
I collaborated with a UI designer to systematically identify key features and content requirements. Our approach centered on usability testing to identify and correct problems with search functionality and content anti-patterns. Rather than wholesale redesign, we focused on strategic improvements within technical and budget constraints.
Working with engineering, I prioritized changes based on effort and feasibility. We established key design principles:
- •Simplify navigation and reduce interface clutter
- •Improve search reliability and relevance
- •Enhance visual hierarchy and information architecture
- •Optimize for both discovery and task completion
DESIGN EVOLUTION
The redesign evolved through iterative testing, focusing on core usability improvements. The most significant change relocated the info bubble to the left panel, creating better spatial relationship between map content and detailed information. This dramatically improved information hierarchy and reduced cognitive load.
We removed the cluttering vertical toolbar and simplified layer filters to improve search focus. The search results panel received a complete redesign for better scanability, while we improved search quality and result relevance. The map viewport was optimized for better context.
User feedback like "I really love how this looks and how the chiclets stack" confirmed our improvements were resonating. The evolution was methodical, ensuring existing users could adapt without losing familiar functionality.
MEASURING SUCCESS
I worked with product stakeholders to define success metrics balancing user satisfaction with business performance. We established targets for referral traffic, unique visits, and user satisfaction improvements.
Key results
- •High user satisfaction scores in rollout testing
- •Measurable gains in referral traffic to hotel partners
- •Growth in unique visits and user retention
- •Enhanced brand consistency and user engagement
Results exceeded expectations across all metrics, validating that improved user experience directly translated to better business outcomes.
TECHNICAL FOUNDATION
Daily collaboration with developers ensured technical feasibility while maintaining design integrity. I provided comprehensive specifications, detailed artifacts, and functional prototypes that served as reliable sources of truth, reducing ambiguity and ensuring consistent execution.
Working with product and engineering, I helped write user stories that clearly outlined design requirements. The technical approach required careful consideration of existing mapping infrastructure while implementing new interface patterns and improved search algorithms.
IMPACT
The MapQuest redesign successfully addressed core user experience challenges while delivering measurable business value.
Customer results
- •Simplified navigation reducing task abandonment
- •Improved search reliability and result relevance
- •Enhanced trip planning and accommodation booking experience
- •Faster information discovery through better visual hierarchy
Business results
- •Increased referral traffic to hotel partners
- •Growth in unique visits and improved user retention
- •Enhanced user satisfaction metrics and brand perception
- •Strengthened partner relationships through higher-quality referrals
This project demonstrated how systematic design thinking and iterative testing can transform legacy digital experiences while balancing user needs with business objectives. The success established MapQuest as a more competitive player in the mapping and travel planning space.