Using maps.openrouteservice.org not very intuitive

[mwstat]

Hey.

I always struggle using maps.openrouteservice.org to get a route from A to B. It is not very straightforward for me. Therefore, I would be glad if someone could tell me if there is a better way to use it.

Let’s say I want to get the route from Berlin Alexanderplatz to Hamburg Gänsemarkt. My steps are:

1. I open maps.openrouteservice.org in my Browser:
   

   

2. Then I already struggle and I don’t really know how to get my desired route. Usually, I click on the directions symbol because it looks quite similar to route-symbols of other websites:
   

   

3. Then this window appears:
   

   

4. Ok. Looks good. So I type in my starting location (Berlin Alexanderplatz) and select it:
   

   

5. Ok. Good. Now I type in my destination (Hamburg Gänsemarkt):
   

   

6. My expectation now is that as soon I select my destination, it gives me the route on the map. But as soon as I select the destination, it shows me this:
   

   

7. I’m confused. So I again click on the direction symbol:
   

   

8. I get this window where Berlin is the destination and Hamburg is gone:
   

   

9. So I first drag Berlin back to the top position:
   

   

10. And then I try Hamburg Gänsemarkt again as destination:
    

    

11. And as soon as I select it, it works and shows me the route:
    

    

What is my mistake? Why isn’t this working already at step 6?

[andrzej]

Many thanks for this valuable feedback!

Indeed, the described behavior is somehow bizarre and I totally agree that there is room for improvement in terms of usability of the maps client. In fact, there is an ongoing internal discussion on addressing it and hopefully it will get resolved soon. Your experience is an important input to these considerations

In order to streamline a bit your workflow you might actually want to switch the order of the first two steps, i.e. start by searching for a given place, and only then click on the “directions” icon. This should get you to the desired result in a fewer steps.

Alternatively, you might also try the “classic” maps client. Feature-wise it covers the same functionality as maps.openrouteservice.org but offers a bit more old-school and maybe more intuitive interface.

Thanks for bearing with us

[mwstat]

Thank you for the information and the helpful hints!
Typing the destination first, then clicking on the directions symbol and then adding the starting location works without further necessary steps.

Thank you!