Wayfinding on the web

Context

Mappedin Web is an embeddable, responsive wayfinding product for malls, stadiums, and other large venues. Anyone can access a dynamic indoor map simply by visiting a venue's website. Our goal was to make it feel familiar, accurate, and useful whether a person was planning from home or navigating on site.

The existing web solution relied on slow custom deployments, generated little user engagement or insight, and had fallen behind expectations for indoor navigation.

Problem areas

• Customers wanted a plug-and-play indoor map, but every deployment was a costly custom build.
• Venues attracted strong website traffic without a good way to turn browsing into useful action during a visit.
• Search and navigation data remained inside native products such as Apple Maps and Google Maps, leaving operators with little insight.
• No mobile-friendly indoor product offered the real-time positioning people expected from outdoor navigation.

The new product needed to be a scalable SaaS solution with low-touch onboarding. The map had to stay central, and each customer needed substantial brand control without fragmenting the user experience.

Design process

Discovery and definition

We gathered feedback from venue operators, reviewed pain points in our custom deployments, and benchmarked common consumer navigation patterns.

Exploration and ideation

We defined two key journeys—planning ahead and navigating in the venue—and organized both around a map-first principle: interface and context should work together rather than compete.

Design and prototyping

I collaborated with engineering on layout, hierarchy, and a scalable component model. We tested smart map behaviours such as automatic rotation and dynamic labels, then used remote UserTesting.com studies to check our assumptions.

Refinement and release

We released the foundational search, directions, and map navigation first. Real-time positioning through Apple's Indoor Positioning System and dynamic 2D labels followed as evidence and technical capability matured.

Challenges

The interface had to remain minimal, context-aware, and responsive while serving two stakeholders: end users needed intuitive navigation; customers needed their brand and useful analytics.

We could not control the size of an embed on a customer site. People sometimes struggled when the allocated space was too small. Dense labels and touch targets were particularly difficult on phones. The experience also needed WCAG 2.1 A–AA support, including screen readers, readable directions, and a clear tab order—without adding visual clutter.

Solutions

Design every action around the map

Search, directions, and browsing happened alongside map context. The interface remained intentionally minimal so a person could always see where they were and where they were going, even across floors and buildings.

Add familiar real-time positioning

We partnered with Apple to integrate its Indoor Positioning System on iOS. Auto-orientation, a persistent Locate Me control, and smooth floor transitions made indoor navigation behave more like the products people already knew. The feature doubled direction lookups and increased location selections by 42%.

Make labels responsive too

A smart 2D label system adjusted to screen size and zoom level, offering a clearer alternative to our 3D-only labels and helping people identify nearby stores and amenities.

Theme the system, not each deployment

A component-based design system allowed customers to apply brand colours, typography, and logos through the CMS while preserving structure, usability, and accessibility.

Make integration lightweight

Customers could embed the map with one script tag. Configuration options and published sizing guidance helped teams provide enough map space while keeping each integration clean and focused.

Final notes

Mappedin Web became one of the company's most successful products, with more than 75% of directory customers adopting it in the first year. As product designer, I helped define the strategy, shape the interface, and guide technical decisions that made real-time indoor navigation feel familiar and accessible.

Later, in a Product Management role, I partnered with a new product designer on a refreshed interface and helped launch find-your-seat, seat views, saved parking, and multi-destination navigation.