Make Google Maps Better at Helping People Choose a Restaurant

You are a product manager on Google Maps. How would you improve the experience of searching for a restaurant in Maps? Explain the goal you would set, which diners you would design for, what problems you would solve for them, what you would build first and how you would measure whether it worked. ```hint Follow one meal Trace a specific diner from the moment they start thinking about where to eat until they sit down or pick up the food. Note each step where Maps stops being useful and the decision moves to another app or a group chat. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - What should the improvement move: more people starting restaurant searches in Maps, more of those searches ending in a choice, or more people coming back to Maps the next time they eat out? - Does restaurant search cover only finding a place to visit, or also takeout, delivery and reservations started from Maps? - Is the diner the only user in scope, or should I also consider restaurant owners and the menus, photos and details they add to their listings? - Which surface and market should I assume: the mobile app in one country, or every platform worldwide? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal for restaurant search tied to why it matters for Maps, settled before choosing users or features - Diner segments by situation (solo nearby, groups, families, travelers, people with dietary needs) and a reasoned choice of one, with attention to where Maps is already strong - Pain points drawn from that segment's decision journey, including why people finish the decision outside Maps - Prioritized solutions that build on what Maps already knows about places and travel, with the data each one needs from restaurants and the trade-offs involved - A success metric that counts decisions rather than searches, with guardrails for result quality, accuracy of restaurant details and privacy ### Follow-up Questions - Your launch raises the number of restaurant searches, but directions requests and reservations from those searches stay flat. How would you work out why? - Most restaurants have not added structured menu or dietary details to their listings. How would you get enough data for your solution to work? - How would you keep paid promotions for restaurants from undermining trust in the results?