I’ve spent some time discussing with friends the prospect of a wayfinding app that is just a smart compass that doesn’t tell you the name of your destination. Responding to simple, natural language queries like “coffee nearby”, Rome (ok, we got a bit ahead of ourselves and named it), would merely point users in a direction with an estimated walk time. In depriving users of specific knowledge of their destination and confirmation of when they “get there”, our hypothesis is that users will be more open to exploration along the way.

Our idea grew from a few frustrations: (1) While using existing mapping and other wayfinding applications (i.e., Yelp), we noticed that the more we cared about finding our destination, the more we stopped looking around us. How many amazing burrito places did we pass en route to Urbanspoon’s recommended location? (2) Our use of pre-determined recommendations was killing opportunities for serendipity. There’s something magical about asking for directions and finding a memorable place, but not knowing for certain whether we found the place we were originally looking for. To many, finding the “correct” location might not matter if the goal is to have a memorable experience. I think many of us have stories where we stop to ask somebody who looks “local” for a recommendation, only to get back a complex laundry lists of lefts and rights and straights to get to the best curry/pho/bbq/mezcal/paella in the city.

In a world of top 10 lists, I think this concept is a breath of fresh air. There are certainly some really special restaurants in any particular city that are worth going out of one’s way for and, let’s say, about 20% of restaurants that should be avoided. But at the restaurants in the middle, I would venture a guess that a patron’s experience is based as much on quality of food as their attitude when they walk in the door. Living in New York, many were the night when I’d get excited about a particular restaurant only to find a 2-hour wait, setting myself up for a tedious “where should we go now?” conversation with my friends. I think that the idea of stumbling across something is far more evocative than following a map to a destination.

I had a 7 hour layover in Rome last week and for my first visit decided to the city I decided to demo an analog version of the app. I spend a few days beforehand asking people advice and writing down descriptions of places — bakeries, gelaterias, etc. on a hand drawn map that was more or less…well, less…accurate. I got a few names but focused on descriptions (the pizza place kinda behind the Colosseum near a pride flag, for instance). I turned my phone off when I landed and roamed around Rome. I’m sure I missed a number of the places my friends recommended and went into some “wrong” shops thinking they were the “right” ones, but I had a delicious and empowering day.

Originally published on March 28, 2014