kasey Profile picture
Jun 16, 2024 11 tweets 3 min read Read on X
this got talked about a lot when I worked on google maps.

I would personally love this feature, and it’s technically feasible.

here’s why I fought it loudly every time it came up

🧵
google maps has over a billion users around the world.

it is truly a global product operating at a scale that’s nearly incomprehensible.

that kind of scale changes the way you have to think about product development — and specifically about nth order effects.
the google maps routing algorithm selects the fastest route between your location and your destination.

that means every segment of the street network has an equal chance at being traveled, given the commonality of location/destination deltas and street segment connectivity
the current algo is basically objective.

any shift towards “nice” or “scenic” routes is going to take some new subset of variables into account; beautiful architecture, street trees, etc.

this naturally introduces bias to the system (again, at global scale)
on its own, this bias isn't necessarily a bad thing, but let's examine the shape of this bias...

ask yourself: between these two streets, which one is this new 'scenic' route algorithm going to choose?
Image
Image
now ask yourself:
which of those streets is likely the higher income community?

city planning (my former profession) has mountains of research on these correlations.

eg low-income communities in the US have 41% fewer trees than high-income communities Image
but it's not just the US, this pattern generalizes to nearly every city around the world.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
you see where this is going:

because of its global scale, even a small shift in maps routing from a seemingly-innocuous (and frankly very useful!) feature could create a reinforcing feedback loop with spatial inequality.
inadvertently diverting foot traffic from low-income streets to high-income streets takes revenue and potentially tax dollars from already struggling communities and funnels it instead to richer communities.

always remember:
we live (and build tools) in complex systems.
for context: ime this idea was usually discussed with regard to walking navigation specifically.
additional context: I am sharing my opinion and my opinion alone, which doesn't reflect the perspective of the company. I was not the person who would have decided if this feature got built or not.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with kasey

kasey Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @kaseyklimes

Nov 27, 2024
has anyone tracked the disappearance of bowling alleys, skate rinks, arcades (*not* barcades), shopping malls, and generally low-cost+safe places for teenagers to hang out in american cities/suburbs?
I haven’t looked into it but it definitely seems like an increased pressure to drive revenue has driven a lot of formerly-teen-friendly small businesses to either shift focus to an older clientele or go out of business altogether
I suspect this period of development is so far in the rear view mirror that most of us haven’t thought about it since, and teenagers today don’t know any different — but these places were important!
Read 7 tweets
Jun 18, 2024
I just got back from Barcelona.

a couple years ago this intersection was filled with cars and trucks.

now it’s filled with people, plants. and music.

here’s a before / after

BCN probably has the world’s most ambitious public space strategy right now.

let’s look at more 🧵
Image
everyone knows the gothic quarter is for pedestrians, but historically the eixample hasn't enjoyed the same tranquility
Image
Image
in 2022, mayor Ada Colau announced 21 streets in the eixample would be pedestrianized to form a new network of "superblocks" Image
Read 12 tweets
May 16, 2024
I don't mean to hijack @kasratweets thoughtful question but our household hosts a lot because we love it and I believe I've learned some useful lessons that address the responses here, so...

*How To Host Gatherings Successfully Even If You're Scared*

🧵
#1 rule of hosting:
Nothing—absolutely nothing—matters more than *who* you invite to the party (call it a party or not, you’re hosting a party). Who you invite sets the parameters of who your guests will meet, what kind of conversations they will have, and how they will feel.
With this in mind, the first step to hosting comes way before hosting.

It’s basically scouting.

You must make a point to meet new people, lots of them, preferably 1:1.

Remember: the way someone treats you reflects the way they will treat others.
Read 41 tweets
Apr 21, 2024
I’m not convinced Montessori is a good idea after 1st grade.

The value of Montessori isn’t that it’s a superior mode of knowledge acquisition (it’s not), it’s that it fortifies curiosity and instills independence.

Combined, those create a confidence that “I can figure it out.”
The problem is that by 1st or 2nd grade, efficient knowledge acquisition becomes important.

Undirected learning (like Montessori) creates a huge meta-cognitive load when you’re entirely new to a domain.
You’re being asked to construct new knowledge, but you have no idea what the building blocks even are or where you’re positioned among them!

It’s disorienting.

This undue meta-cognitive load (the science shows) actually *interferes* with efficient knowledge acquisition.
Read 8 tweets
Jan 7, 2024
From 2006 to 2022, Twitter wasn’t a social network app. It was the world’s best note-taking app.

It was the only note-taking app that afforded the expansion of a nascent idea by riffing on it with a particular niche of thoughtful, intelligent people—a “tuning fork” for notes
There’s still glimmers of this old note taking app here, but by leaning hard into algorithmic content, the Musk takeover has turned it into something that looks far more like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc—another Content Feeding Tube™️
This sort of thought-play has largely retreated into the recesses of cozyweb platforms—private discords and the like

On one hand, these environments offer a “safe space” where good faith interpretations of half-baked thoughts on the basis of familiarity are more or less reliable
Read 5 tweets
Sep 4, 2023
Spent the long weekend losing my mind over Montreal’s urban design.

It’s the best in North America by a wide margin.

Want to see some fantastic public spaces?

🧵📸 Image
1/ Pedestrian streets are all over the city. Some grand, others cozy. All gentle and lively.


Image
Image
Image
Image
2/ Everywhere, reminders that cities aren’t loud—cars are loud.

Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(