Updates to Bing Map Road Style

http://mapsys.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2171b6b7cedafter.jpg.jpg

If you have looked at a Bing map in the last 24 hours you might have noticed a few new things about our road map style.  So what did we change?  Simply put, we made things easier to see.

Based on many phases of usability testing we’ve made dozens of changes to improve our base road map style. The result is a new style designed to communicate more important information at a glance. We have just finished rolling out our English version of this new style, and you will see French, Flemish, German, Italian, and Spanish rolling out over the next week or so.

Key changes include:

  1. Primary roadways are denoted in a more distinct color
  2. One way streets are more clearly marked
  3. Road shields are more visible
  4. Text labels are easier to read
  5. Traffic overlays are clearer and more defined
  6. Lots of other details to improve map readability

 

As the saying goes, pictures are worth thousands of word so we’ve put together a 9 page guide to what’s new to go deep on all the changes. 

OpenStreetMap Manual Reviewed

Book cover: OpenStreetMap Another review of the English edition of the OpenStreetMap manual by Frederik Ramm, Jochen Topf and Steve Chilton — OpenStreetMap: Using and Enhancing the Free Map of the World — by Directions Magazine’s Adena Schutzberg.

Previously: Two Book Reviews.