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Idea
One day a worker at Google, Julia, really wanted to go on a vacation. But, unfortunately she did not have the money to fund this vacation. So instead she thought of this cool idea where you could go to different places around the world but not spend a dime. This was how Google Treks Maps was started. -
Script
After pitching the idea to Julia's boss the plan was set into motion. The first thing was to set up a software system that allows users to go to different places and click on locations in that place to see what is there. This makes the adventure interactive and makes the user feel like they are there. Many people were involved in this area like Julia, software programers, designers, and researchers or people who know each location very well. -
Storyboard
By this point, the basic software and design has been set up. The main thing now is to go into each vacation or spot and give it details and life. This takes many people like explorers, researchers, native people, and designers. The explorers, natives, and researchers give the information about the area and what it looks like and all of the landmarks in that area. The designers take all of this information and have it laid out to make it user-friendly. This is also where the locations are chosen -
Record
Once all the locations are chosen and the information is put in, then photographers and videographers go to the different locations and take live pictures of the land and monuments that are at that location. This shows the user real footage and pictures so that they know in detail the area. This is all organized onto the site so the users can have access. -
Edit
Since all the pictures and videos take a long time to collect then the team needs to go back into the program and personalize it to what was captured while traveling. This is also the time to make changes with colors, font, and to fix any bugs that have been causing issues. -
Finish
The final product is released with the first couple of locations accessible for users to use! Everyone that was involved with the project is there for the launch!
https://www.google.com/maps/about/treks/#/grid