If you helped at least one driver today, then you're a good editor :)

[autotourist]

No doubt, every one of you is familiar with that unpleasant feeling when you set a destination in Waze—a place or address you’ve never been to—and Waze leads you somewhere in the middle of the street and happily announces that “That’s it, you’ve arrived.” You look around, but the destination is nowhere to be found. You start asking the locals. Eventually, while muttering curses, you drive through unmarked alleys and various internal roads, and when you finally reach your destination, you pray you won’t forget how to get back to where Waze actually knows how to guide you.

Why am I saying this? Because I sometimes get comments about over-detailing the map. Even though the app has improved significantly since the first smartphones with crude GPS components hit the market, and technically it is certainly capable of handling maps of any complexity level, provided they are built according to technical limitations—thresholds that must not be crossed so the app doesn’t confuse adjacent roads. Of course, I never violate these technical limitations.

From my perspective, a navigation map should be built with the driver visiting the location for the first time in mind. The navigation device should bring them to the point where the driver definitely won’t get lost in an unfamiliar place. Also, we shouldn’t forget delivery services, medical aid, and security forces, including the fire department. Especially in these very unsettled times.

So, I try to balance the desire to help everyone behind the wheel with the need to avoid over-detailing, so as not to overload someone’s iPhone 3G running FreeMap Israel (the mother of the current WAZE). This leaves drivers a great opportunity in certain places to still interact with the people around them

And what about you? What was your reason for becoming an editor?

[r0den]

The discussion on the level of detail (detail level) is a long one that I, and likely many others, could get into and discuss for hours on end I don’t think it would be in the public interest to get into it in this post.
I’ll just say that sometimes over-detailing the map can lead to problems (which obviously aren’t on us if we’ve mapped reality).

The reason I became an editor? To be honest, I wasn’t looking for it. It just happened by accident.
One day I was a high schooler, I was bored in one of those “classes-that-aren’t-really-classes” I had, I discovered the map editor, logged in…
Suddenly I saw a lot of roads with too many buttons I didn’t understand, a lot of capabilities, and I wanted to experiment. I saw a private parking lot outside the window and noticed it didn’t exist on the map. I told myself I’d add it. I clicked all sorts of buttons, and suddenly it was added.
And I don’t remember the exact sequence of events after that, but somehow I got to the forum, those segments were connected to the national map, and a few hours later I already saw it in the app (the good old days when there were still 2 map builds a day). I was pretty stoked, proud and excited.
Since then, I started digging a bit more; along the way, I learned the community, the essence, the goal, how it works, why it works, what’s behind it, and I wanted to be a part of it.
Since then I’ve grown, developed, learned a thing or two (thanks to the amazing mentors I had), changed things a little, helped a lot (or at least I hope so), and today I feel like I’m contributing to a huge number of people who aren’t even aware of our existence. And I get to talk quite a bit with people and entities who aren’t aware of the amazing fact behind the map and the app that serves them day-to-day on the road—in traffic jams or on the open road, on main arteries and urban streets, in narrow alleys and winding neighborhoods, with various alerts and super local, accurate information—that behind all this, there are actually volunteer communities who test beta versions, update the maps, answer users, improve navigation, and many other things we all do. Every single time, people are surprised, and the excitement and the look on their faces is satisfying every single time. And when even a single percent of all the people I interact with tell me how much I’m contributing, how much I’m helping, how important it is and how much it’s appreciated—it gives more and more motivation to continue, to do and contribute, to take on more and more responsibilities and authority, to delve deeper and deeper into the systems and capabilities, to suggest and to change.

This is my story, this is what I’m doing here and how I got here hope it was interesting

[autotourist]

I also got into editing quite by accident. A few years ago, I was assigned a work project in the Golan Heights with many points where the route from the main road involved two or three kilometers of dirt tracks. Every time was an adventure because there were so many trails out there and it was very easy to get confused. One fine day, I discovered the option in Waze to record drives (back when it still existed and worked). I tried it. A few days later, the road appeared on the map. In short, I realized that this way I could make life easier for myself and my team Later, I tried editing within the limits allowed for beginners. Again, out of pure selfishness — to get where I needed to go without any trouble Then I received an offer I couldn’t refuse, because I realized I could make sure that even in the city where I live, accessibility to places and correctly marked roads would become the norm. True, it’s always nice to know you’re helping not just yourself but also the people around you, but I can’t say that a love for the world and the dust of the roads was the impulse for joining the community :)))

The technical limitations are quite frustrating, but over time they decrease. Additionally, thanks to some technical knowledge I have, I develop technical tools and software for myself for more accurate road marking and editing. I share some of them with you.

There’s always the urge to do everything perfectly, everywhere and immediately :))) In those moments, especially after receiving another comment that I’ve gone overboard again, I take a break, grab my camera, and go out to photograph something interesting And then I notice something else that needs improvement on the map :)))) It seems that regardless of the purpose of the trip, when an editor is behind the wheel, they remain an editor :))))