Navigation, confusing terms

Former Member over 5 years ago

On my Fenix 5 plus the menu-items and/or activity names Navigation, Navigate etc. are very very confusing, especially when appearing together in the same context.

I therefore strongly advise/request changing the following terms used in menus to (for instance):

- NAVIGATION , use this term for changing Navigation SETTINGS (my advise would be, keep this as it is)

- NAVIGATE TO, use this term for navigating waypoints, courses etc. (my advise is to change this, instead of using ‘Navigation’)

Also, for obvious reasons, please change the default activity named as 'Navigate’ into (for instance):

- GoTo (NB. ‘NAVIGATE TO’ would also do, but conflicts with the proposed menu-item with the same name)

I think these changes wil have great benefits for users, who use navigation functions often.

Also, IMHO my request is not asking to much from Garmin, because they require not much reprogramming, just changing some names (strings). My proposed changes could easily be applied in a future update/firmware, and of course in the new Fenix 6 as well.

Other Fenix 5 Plus users, please comment on this,

Wil (NL).

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0 RadAd over 5 years ago

um, no - lol.

The noun 'Navigation' is, I believe, the correct one for classifying all navigation-related features that you can trigger from within an activity. You don't 'Navigate To' a course, for instance, you just navigate it. I could go on but my point is that changing the menu item to a verb would not be a correct use of English in this case and would IMO degrade the user experience.

Kudos to you for raising constructive suggestions though!

0 macnuts over 5 years ago in reply to RadAd

It might be a GUI translation issue only, but navigation related option names are not consistent and some are redundant - that might be confusing.

There is a "Navigate" (no "To" appended) activity which in fact displays "Navigation" screen options with "Navigation"-labeled heading. I would expect activity name there instead but it is minor problem and can be ignored.

The next one is what introduces more serious confusion. There is an entry labeled "Navigation" in the "Navigate" settings which opens the same "Navigation" screen (but with lesser functionality). Being in "Navigate" settings I would expect that "Navigation" will transfer me to some more options and not back to "Navigate" activity.

Removing "Navigation" from "Navigate" settings would do the trick.

0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to RadAd

Run default activity ‘Navigate’
Choose a POI, course, saved location, whatever you prefer
When GPS green, press Start
Activity (or App) ‘Navigate’ is now active/runnng

Long press UP button for settings
Scroll menu down until you find the following items
Navigation Settings
Navigate Settings
Navigation

Confusing IMHO.

What these 3 menu-items really represent, are:
Navigation : SYSTEM Settings
‘Navigate’ (the App or Activity) : SPECIFIC Settings
Navigate/Follow function : (navigate point, follow line)

IMHO less confusing menu names could be:
Navigation (system settings, specific activity settings)
Nav&Go (yes, users can already copy/rename/set this app)
Navigate (navigating to a waypoint, or do a course etc)

Summary:
Users can already adapt the default app/activity ‘Navigate’ as they prefer, so asking Garmin to change this name is not exactly a prority.
But Garmin can (easily) make a clearer distinction between the other two confusing menu items: Navigation for settings (so, keep it as it is) and change Navigation to Navigate, when navigating is concerned (going to, doing a course, etc).

0 RadAd over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

Ok, I see your point; I didn't realize that you were referring to the Navigate app. I removed it from my favorites because I find it redundant; If I'm navigating by foot (city), foot (hiking), bicycle, boat, or vehicle, I'm always selecting the activity-specific app with the correct routing and display settings for that use case. With that said, it's obviously there for a reason so some people must find it useful and I agree that 'Navigate' is a poor naming choice given how confusing it is alongside the adjacent menu options.

Regarding your proposal, I still don't like removing the word 'Settings' from #1 as I think it make it less clear what selecting the Navigation option will open. For #2 I agree Nav&Go is a better name but obviously this can be renamed by users so it's not a big deal. On second thought I also think you're right about #3 as well, since those settings pertain to the act of navigating something.

Good chat! lol