Project: Guide the World | Client: Google Maps| Agency: Me
Hi everyone, I’m Dukakis Anderson. A visual communicator by day and a developer at night- in between and surfing the web or playing games. My typical day involves working on a creative brief/project and approach project challenges with a focus on interpreting/developing the client’s brand whilst also communicating clients’ message in an engaging and creative way.
I tend to perceive being a Local Guides as such- how can I help?
I take every review, adding new places, taking photos or videos as a brief from Google and I do my best to help bring places to life. The small store down the street needs visibility as the high-end store in the capital- that is the reason I love to share pictures!
There was a time I spotted a new fast food joint around my work. I was walking past it one time and tried to add it as a missing place only to realize the place has already been added, I actually checked before but the name was a bit different, I didn’t know that until I was prompted that the place already exists but in a slightly different name. But I took the liberty and opportunity to take some amazing night shots of the place, rated and reviewed the place since I have been there and tasted their food.
I really love and prefer to take night shots of places for Google maps especially when they are well lit but when I find an interesting place and I have the opportunity, I take a shot either ways because people would still have to see how these places look like during the day no matter how stunning they look at night.
There are dozens of people that own and spend most of their time on their smartphones but can’t find their way around Google maps which is baffling. I mean how?!
In Ghana, we have a major problem with directions and locations because our address system does not really work well like other countries. Asking a pedestrian for directions sometimes feels like asking someone on the street about quantum physics. You sometimes never get good directions and you end up getting more lost eventually. Landmarks such as buildings and trees eventually become your best friend for finding businesses and pathways.
“Go straight, take the rough road to your right and when you get to the house with the blue gate, you’ll see a narrow pathway with a beans seller beside it…” this is the kind of directions you will typically get in Ghana. Most businesses don’t seem to be taking advantage of street signs and the new and improved Google maps either to make finding them easier.
The use of maps in Ghana has been on the rise lately with the introduction of Uber and Ghana Post (a digital address system introduced by the government to improve our address system) but there is still more work to be done and I wish more people would just find places on Google map and use their many interesting features such as the suggested or recommended places.
I really am proud to be a local guide so I try to make this less of a problem by improving maps In my own little way by adding missing places, ratings and reviews so that map users would find the place they are looking for as well as any relevant information about places and when non map users start using it, it won’t look empty and the necessary information Google maps can offer would not be missing.
The next time someone asks me for directions, I might as well just open up the Google map application on my or their phone and show them the way.
