MapMyRun

http://www.mapmyrun.com/

Target Audience: This site was created for runners, from beginning to advanced, looking for help planning running routes, tracking their fitness level, and building community connections.

Usefulness of Content: The best function on this website is the Google map drag-and-drop interface that allows you to plot out running routes and calculate distances. The map will also visually plot the starting points of other people’s saved routes, either in your neighborhood or in an unfamiliar area that you’d like to explore.

A second function on the site is the route search, in which you type in a city or zip code and get a listing of user-created running routes. However, because many users give no description or commentary whatsoever about their route, there is little way of qualitatively distinguishing between the 1,877 runs that come up for the 78705 zip code. Comparable hiking sites I’ve visited are much more descriptive and informative.

This site has potential, but some of the functions don't seem to be used much. For example, the community events listing could be a great tool, but when I checked for events of any category (runs, walks, hikes, etc.) in Austin, there were no results.

Consistency of Design: The visual design of this website could use a lot of improvement. The homepage is crowded with text and uses a monotonous blue and white color scheme. The only significant graphics on the homepage are the advertisements, which are distracting. The individual tabs for searching for runs, races, etc. are just as bad, using a generic font, the same blue and white colors and absolutely no graphics. Some attention to crafting a visually appealing site might significantly increase the site’s user base.

Ease of Navigation: In spite of its general unattractiveness, the homepage does make navigation obvious, via the three large buttons in the center and the tabs at the top of the page. Within the mapping function, however, things are not that simple. Using the “Find” function in the map produces a pop-up window which blocks half the map - but closing this window erases the search results on the map. Frustrating, to say the least. Once a route has been plotted, it is practically impossible to add to it. Clicking on “Add Point to This One” seems to have no effect. I ran into other problems of this sort throughout the site. Improving ease of use and visual presentation, as well as somehow increasing public awareness of their services and forums, would be of great benefit to the site.