New: Google Maps Labs
When Google wants to test new features, they call them Lab experiments, and make them opt-in. Now, following many other services, Google Maps received a Lab icon. Click the green flask at the top of Google Maps and you get a chance to enable features like the following:
Context & Ripple Effects
Google Maps is adopting an experimentation pattern Google had already used in Toolbar Labs, while its City Tours experiment showed Maps being used to test a travel-oriented layer rather than only its core interface. A dedicated Labs entry point makes those trials selectable inside the product, separating unfinished features from the default Maps experience.
First-order effects
- Google Maps users can opt into experimental features without Google making those features part of the standard interface for every user.
- Google gains a product-level channel for exposing Maps experiments while retaining a clear default experience for users who do not enable them.
Second-order effects
- Maps feature teams can test demand through voluntary activation before committing an experiment to the main interface, concentrating early feedback among users who choose to participate.
- The Labs model gives Google a repeatable way to introduce specialized Maps features, including travel-oriented experiments, without requiring a full redesign of the service.
Third-order effects
- If Google applies the Labs pattern consistently, Maps product development shifts toward an opt-in portfolio of experiments, with default-interface changes following only after features have been tested in a separate channel.
The trend: Google is extending opt-in Labs from individual services into a broader product-development mechanism for testing features inside established consumer products.