Google’s new low-code development solution for location-based experiences, aptly named Quick Builder, allows non-developers to easily add basic location functionality to digital experiences. The initial launch includes three new templates that are dedicated to supporting specific location functionality.
The company outlined what it sees as the benefit to small businesses behind a low-code solution that offers simplicity and flexibility. The blog post announcing the product release noted that “these tools offer easy access to sophisticated technology, and help enable you to make important decisions about data, design, and functionality. Building demos for stakeholders and demonstrating the tradeoffs of certain decisions is often as simple as clicking a few buttons in the user interface.”
The Google Maps Platform’s Quick Builder is designed with flexibility in mind and allows users to leverage the resulting code with as minimal overhead as possible. The announcement outlined this process:
“You can add your data, play with a real-time preview, and decide which of the Google-suggested designs best fit your business needs. When you’re happy, you can export custom sample code or use our Cloud Hosting feature to embed the solution in your website with just a single line of code. With Quick Builder, you can get personalized, production-ready code and deploy to a production environment more quickly than ever before.”
The three new templates for location services are Locator Plus, Address Selection, Neighborhood Discovery. Locator Plus streamlines the process of displaying business locations to customers while also providing access to “hours of operation, available services, user reviews, and photos for each location.” Address Selection enables simplified entry of important location details when customers are at checkout, making the process quicker and more reliable. Lastly, Neighborhood Discovery helps provide contextual information based on what is surrounding a location, think proximity to coffee shops, banks, or other important services.