When to zoom the map after a route request?

[ojaro]

It would be nice if the map would automatically zoom to fit the route when it's displayed on the map after a route request. However, it's not clear whether the user always expects that or if it's sometimes even harmful.

At the moment, the behaviour is not 100% consistent but depends on the assumed use case:

1. After the user chooses the destination and gets the results for the first time, the map zooms to fit to show that the result from source to target is actually found and displayed.
2. After the user selects a new end point, it seems clear they don't want one route anymore but are experimenting with different routes. In this case, I think it's better to keep the map as it is, in case the user still wants to adjust the end points. It's not consistent with the previous case though, and if the user wanted to see the route properly, they have to zoom manually or tap the route graphs on the bottom of the screen.

(The original bug report took this inconsistency as a plain bug.)

[tuukka]

It should zoom and it does zoom in my tests. Can you provide more specific steps to reproduce?

[ojaro]

1. Select browse
2. Select an end point to get the first route (and it does zoom for focus)
3. Zoom out so you can see the whole Manchester region
4. Select a new end point which is a lot closer to the start point than the current zoom level
5. The new route is displayed, but the zoom level does not chance for focus.

[tuukka]

Oh that - it's not a bug, it's a feature! ;-) I think there's two use cases here: At your step 2, you want one route, so the map zooms to fit that route.

But after you select a new end point, it seems clear you don't want one route anymore but are experimenting with different routes. In that case, I think it's better to keep the map as it is, in case the user still wants to adjust the end points.

Regarding having to zoom in manually, there's now a new feature that shows all the route alternatives returned by OpenTripPlanner as bar graphs. When you first tap one of them, the route alternative will be selected and the map will zoom to fit. Subsequent taps will zoom to fit the route legs. Tapping another route will again zoom to fit that route. Is this an acceptable solution?

[ojaro]

Yeah, really like the alternative routes and the way they zoom in.

Maybe the problem here for me is that I would expect things to work consistent. So, if it zooms in automatically when I get route the first time, it is a bit confusing if it does not happen next time around. But, maybe it is just me...

[tuukka]

Inconsistency is bad indeed - I've labelled this issue as "ui-design" and updated the summary accordingly.