Google Maps Integration
General Motors — Product Designer (2018–2021)
Bringing Google Maps and Google Automotive Services (GAS) into GM vehicles for the first time, shaping the navigation experience across Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac.
Project Overview
Goal: Integrate Google Maps into GM’s in-vehicle experience and define navigation behaviors across multiple vehicle brands and screen types.
Outcome: Successfully launched in select Model Year 2022 vehicles, later expanding across the portfolio. Google Automotive Services helped GM reduce development costs and increased software & services revenue by 90% YoY.
My Role & Ownership
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Partnered with the lead designer to run user studies.
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Educated designers across GM on Google Automotive constraints and interaction rules.
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Partnered with engineering teams to ensure requirements from General Motors were being met.
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Created prototypes for user studies and to present to Google as a feature request.
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Prepared and presented feature requests to Google during quarterly workshops.
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Interpreted Google’s documentation and translated constraints into scalable UI patterns.
Context & Challenge
Before 2022, most GM customers used their smartphones for navigation, media, and calling. Through consumer research, we learned:
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Users preferred the familiarity of mobile mapping systems such as Google Maps
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Updating onboard navigation was slow and costly
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EV drivers needed more clarity on range in relation to the route and charging stops
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Super Cruise (GM’s hands-free driving tech) introduced new mapping needs
GM became the second OEM to partner with Google to bring GAS into production vehicles. With limited precedent, our team had to:
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Define what a GM × Google experience should look like from scratch
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Consider how hardware layouts, screen sizes, display shapes, and interaction modalities would impact the design and experience as they vary across vehicles
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Figure out how to stay true to each vehicle brand through the design
Process
Learning
Benchmarking
User Research
Feature Requests
Learning
Because only one other OEM had implemented GAS, we spent our early phase understanding:
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What Google Automotive Services provided out of the box
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Where OEM customization was allowed or restricted
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How Google Material Design translated to in-vehicle UI
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How to adapt Android Automotive patterns into branded GM experiences
This foundation shaped our UI rules, screen architecture, and component behavior.
Benchmarking
Since we had to consider the how an electric vehicle and super cruise impacted a navigation experience we did a lot of benchmarking:
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Experiencing Super Cruise for ourselves
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Understanding how Tesla adds in charging stations to a route and shows energy usage
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Other OEM navigation systems
This helped us when considering what we needed for our own EV’s and super cruise vehicles. As well as how to handle navigation the the cluster (aka screen behind the steering wheel).
User Research
Over two years, we conducted multiple rounds of testing — including a deep dive into Super Cruise navigation needs.
Key insights:
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35% of users used Super Cruise for more than 2 hours
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26% used it for short trips (5–30 minutes)
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Half of users who used Super Cruise did so weekly
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Users needed clearer visuals for lane guidance, route validity, and battery estimates on EV routes
These studies were helpful in influencing our design decisions and presenting feature requests to Google partners. We were able to show Google the importance of including Super Cruise routes and needing clear visuals.
Feature Requests
Each quarter, we met with Google to request improvements or new features within GAS and Google Maps.
We submitted requests for:
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Towing compatible roads
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Updated cluster view behaviors
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More OEM customization control
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New UI states for hands-free driving
We supported these requests with:
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Wireframes
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Prototype demos
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User research evidence
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Business impact reasoning
Solution
Google Maps Implementation
Google Maps launched across GMC, Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick starting with Model Year 2022 vehicles, with continued rollout in future models.
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Google Maps in the Cadillac Lyriq
We had to work with Google to create a "safe space" for Maps to write inside of due to the nature of the screen.
Maps Card View in the GMC Serria
We had to rethink the card view multiple times due to gesture controls. The card was planned for prior to Google Maps inclusion. This required the team to rethink the original designs.
Google Maps in the Chevy Blazer
Similar to the Cadillac Lyriq, we had to create a safe space for Google Maps to write in the Chevy Blazer as well due to the curvature on the right hand side of the screen.
Project Highlights
Final Experience Highlights:
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Brand-aligned UI that remained consistent with Google’s constraints
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Improved EV range and charging clarity
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Hands-free mapping behaviors aligned with Super Cruise
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Faster, more flexible software update cycles using GAS
Business Impact:
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90% YoY revenue increase for GM’s software & services ecosystem
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Reduced development and update costs through GAS
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More consistent, user-friendly navigation across GM brands
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Clearer UX for EV and Super Cruise experiences
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Foundation for future mapping and connected-vehicle innovations
Learnings & Take Aways
What I learned:
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Designing for automotive requires rethinking mobile experiences
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Partnering with Google taught me how to navigate design constraints and advocate for user safety
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Multi-brand and multi-company design requires strong cross-team communication
If I Could Iterate Further:
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Conduct earlier on-road usability testing
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Expand gesture guidelines for future map features
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Explore various ways for Maps to occupy the card space in specific vehicles