Going out tonight? Plan it with Bing Maps Preview.

My team at Bing Maps learned that our customers struggle to find applications that make it simple to plan outings. Based on that need, we designed the Bing Maps Preview to lets users open multiple cards on the map to compile their plan. I’ll showcase an example of how planning a night out on the town works more effectively in the Bing Maps Preview. Try something like this for yourself on the website, and send us feedback to help us understand how our features can help you more.

Planning the first date

Meet Carlos. Late twenties, lives in a town-home in the suburbs close to his office, single. Carlos just met a girl named Stephanie whom he’s interested in taking on a date this weekend. He’s already asked her out, and she’s said yes, so now he wants to plan something fun to do together. Carlos wants something interactive, so he can get to know Stephanie’s thoughts and personality.

Dancing.

He thinks to himself.

Dancing is romantic, energetic, and will allow us to talk to each other.

Plus he’s heard great reviews from friends about a place called Century Ballroom in downtown Seattle. Apparently this place has drop-in swing dances on Sundays.

Perfect.

Carlos and Stephanie can grab some food near the Ballroom, walk around downtown, and go dancing. Carlos writes the plan down so he won’t forget.

Now I’ve just got to figure out where to take Stephanie for dinner.

Carlos calls Stephanie to ask her what kind of food she likes.

Phew!

Glad he called her, he just learned that she’s a vegetarian. This might make the planning a bit tricky…Carlos needs to find a restaurant that is vegetarian-friendly and, ideally, within walking distance of the Century Ballroom.

Cue Bing Maps.

Here’s Century Ballroom on the map, so now I just need to find restaurants near it.

He finds, inside the Century Ballroom search result card, a module that says “Nearby,” so Carlos clicks that and searches for vegetarian food. Bing Maps overlays the restaurants on the same map with the Century Ballroom pin, so it’s really easy for Carlos to tell the proximity of different vegetarian places to the Ballroom. Carlos quickly compares the menus and Yelp reviews of a few places in the list, and decides on Plum Bistro for their date.

While I’m at it, I should also plan a place to park my car so we can walk around town between dinner and dancing.

Carlos searches for parking, and sees all these results, again, in the same view.

All that’s left is for Carlos is to get directions between Stephanie’s place, where he’ll pick her up. Carlos can even click “share” and send the link to Stephanie to ask her if she likes this plan.

Nah, I’d rather surprise her with the fantastic night I’ve got planned for us…

One map contains all your plans

Bing Maps Preview believes in layers of information. Keep searching on the map, and we’ll keep giving you location answers… overlaid on top of your previous answers. Ever want to compare the locations of different places you’re searching for? You were forced to open multiple tabs with maps before, because Bing Maps, as well as with most other mapping websites, would only allow you to search for one place at a time.

With the new Bing Maps Preview, you can search for several places, while keeping your previous results on the map. This makes it really easy for you to see just how many blocks away that coffee shop that you want to try is from your office.

At a glance, you can choose a hotel based on its proximity to the other attractions you want to visit on your trip.

Go ahead… try it!

And send us your feedback about how your personal “planning a night out” experience was on Bing Maps Preview. My team will read your feedback and make updates.

For more information, check out this video.

If you want to connect further with the Bing Maps team and keep up with our user-voted updates, check out Bing Listens! — Maps.

About the author
Chelsea Mitchell is a Program Manager on the Bing Maps team. She’s lived in Seattle for a year, and most of her map plans revolve around running routes, as she’s currently training for her first marathon scheduled for October. Chelsea highly recommends the swing dancing classes at Century Ballroom.