thoughtcrumbs

Mapquest's improved design

Kudos to Mapquest for adding good new features without overcomplicating the interface. Now you can find directions to a business without knowing its exact address. Just search for it by name and get a list of local results, complete with phone numbers. No more need to go to QwestDex first! Road icons (interstate, left turn, exit, etc.) appear on each line of the driving directions, making each line easier to skim for someone with limited attention capacity (say, with one eye on the road in a downpour at night). Plus, you can expand each line to include a very-zoomed street map of that step, perfect for those curlicue suburban avenues that all have the same name. Mapquest links to your most recent searches from its front page, continues to archive them in the pulldown menus on the search page, and lets you clear them at will.