Inspiration Overload

When you ignore some of the UI elements, the sometimes prolonged waiting time, and the occasional crashes, Bing Destination Maps [bing.com] seems quite interesting as a new way of rendering geographical maps in a more visually simplified, understandable and accessible way. In other words, imagine one can now create a sort of information-optimized summary maps, similar to those you would quickly draw yourself on the back of napkin.

Users are able to specify a specific location, set the area of interest by dragging the sides of the on-map square, and provide the map with a title. The 'cool' feature allows the selection of a visual map style such as 'Sketchy', 'European', 'American' or 'Treasure' (think about the favorite activity of pirates).

If you have no time to wait for rendering process, have a look at some example maps below.

Microsoft staff creates ‘challenges’ in the software, and encourages users to play to learn.  As users unlock challenges (see screenshot above) they can earn up to a max of 300 points per product,  and can choose to share their scoring with their Facebook friends on the Fan page.  Don’t think there’s any social captial here? well if people can brag about their fictitious mafia wars scores, we should expect them to tout their real-world workplace proficiencies.