My name is Jeff and I've been a member of Travel Massive for several years.
I recently published my first article for Brainz Magazine about heritage travel at https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/the-benefits-of-heritage-travel
There are different travel niches; including gastro tourism (foodies), regional travel (particular countries, states, counties, etc.), solo female travel, adventure travel, cruising, etc.
I like to focus on heritage travel because it fits my interests as someone who loves history and who tries to understand people that I meet during my travels, and the places that those same people come from. The best way to understand a destination is to give yourself a history lesson, as understanding the past will help you to understand the present and even predict the future.
It’s our lack of understanding of people and places that causes people to be afraid of others, for people don’t like what they don’t understand because it creates a fear of the unknown. Every tra...
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I'm doing a small research on websites that are using maps. Do you know any cool examples that you like to use? Or maybe you have ideas about an ideal map website with travel content?
I'm doing this to improve the UX of my current project. I'm also playing with an idea of creating a map builder. There are quite a few solutions like that on the market but I would like to focus on travel and outdoor activities. If this sounds interesting, let's connect :)
A little late to this thread but check out www.proxi.co a start up that lets you build your own interactive maps.
👉 Check out the #Map topic for some ideas.
Take a look at Travellerspoint (travellerspoint.com) which provides a free itinerary builder, created by @daamsie (he also helped me build TM).
Here's an interview:
Stay22 (www.stay22.com) are a leader in map-monetization and created a very clever widget and WordPress plugin for bloggers to embed and show nearby accommodation.
Also check out Proxi, a map builder for any kind of use, not specifically travel
www.proxi.co
you could check this one, but guess only in italian lang x
experience.arcgis.com/experience/805005081da841bfb40120cd96290bcd
Hey Kacper, check out felt.com if you're looking for UX inspiration for maps.
Felt looks awesome. Map UX is a rabbit hole for product designers because it can get complex, very quickly. These guys seem to have addressed some common map use-cases with style. Thanks for sharing!
I've played with it and it's really great product. But it's probably not something that you would use if you would like to collect hiking trails and interesting places. I mean, you totally can but Felt it's not CMS for geo data.
These guys do trails: www.komoot.com. What they do well is they also send you every friday recommendations for the weekend close to you. Maps have a million uses in many industries. It's a matter of what data is important for your users and how to best display it
That's an amazing product, thank you Dario !
Right now, I'm displaying information about national parks and will be showing some hiking trails soon.
The problem with maps is that even a simple base map is pretty dense with data. It's tricky to display extra information and provide UX.
I've just checked Textomap and it looks really cool.
As a UX designer I feel you. Checking out how others are handling the issue is important, but at the end of the day you need to decide what is important for your users and what is just extra clutter. Thanks for the kind words on Textomap :)
I did some research on map use on websites of Travel Massive members:
• 2,500 member websites use Google Maps
• 315 member websites use Mapbox
• 93 member websites use OpenStreetMap
Of course this data only attributes profiles that provided a website, so the numbers above are likely to be higher.
Here's a few more map websites for your list, who are TM members of course :)
www.roadgoat.com
eightydays.me
www.rome2rio.com
I'm really surprised that OSM usage is so low.
We use Apple Maps on Tripsy (tripsy.app), but we have native apps (no web for now). They also have an SDK for the web: developer.apple.com/maps/web/.
Hi Kacper!
In mapmelon.com we use leaflet and mapbox.
The app has locations with maps and a big map with different filters on it. Maybe it can help :)
If you have any issue let me know!
Oh, I didn't consider leaflet in my research. Thanks for sharing!
~400 TM member websites use leaflet (see my earlier comment).
another editor I used before mapcreator.io
We build the entire website (trip.social) and an app (placely.app) around maps and travellers social sharing.
My firm (geocentric.com) works on websites for destination business/shopping/art districts. We use Mapbox and Maptiler and a lot of the same UX patterns I see here. Our challenge is to deliver map detail in places that are geographically small but very dense - mapping for "walking scale" at the neighborhood level.
What might be interesting is how we layer in high resolution vector cartography at higher zooms with pavement edges, building footprints, sidewalks, etc + branding elements like colors/fonts.
rinoartdistrict.org/art/murals
cherrycreeknorth.com/things-to-do/dine
boulderdowntown.com/dining/downtown-coffee-trail
Those maps look really cool.
For a simple blog example, I’ve hacked together a few blogs that have used Google maps over the years… I try to include them if they’re useful to the reader. I think it helps the reader to visualise when planning.
www.surfandunwind.com/portugal/where-to-stay-in-lagos-portugal-an-area-guide/
Never really found a third party plug-in or option that’d work as well.
Nice looking website!
What problems did you have with other plugins?
I guess it’s mainly styling and making the maps fit with your website design rather than looking like a third party plugin.
Also, having to install many of the to figure out if they are suitable… time consuming.
Hi Kacper,
I'm glad to hear you're working on improving the UX of your travel-tech project. One cool example of a map-based travel website is Mapify. It allows travelers to create and share personalized travel maps, as well as discover new destinations and experiences. Another example is Roadtrippers, which helps travelers plan road trips by suggesting places to visit and routes to take.
Regarding your idea of a map builder for travel and outdoor activities, that sounds like a great concept.