Foursquare has announced that over the next couple of days they will be introducing a thorough redesign of foursquare.com. The emphasis will be on "discovery," according to the check-in service, most of whose smartphone-wielding customers probably haven't been to the web site since they signed up.
Among the new features is an interactive homepage map which displays where your friends are as well as places that are trending, on your lists and which are offering deals — all color coded to help you navigate.
The redesign also adds time-based recommendations -- a way for you to see the places that are the most useful to you at the very moment you sign in. This eliminates the fear of taking recommendations for a place that is only open for dinner when you sign in at noon.
Lists are now searchable with visual recommendations, so you can plan ahead of time without having to settle on one place. Place pages got a total overhaul as well.With over 15 million members and around a million people checking out the site daily, there will now be better photos and more thorough tips. Users can now comment directly on the homepage, and recommended celebs and brands to follow will be in a more prominent place as well.
Will this improve the site's usability? Maybe, and it doesn't really matter, just like improvements to Twitter.com are of questionable import. Foursquare's app, which actually does let you check in, is only getting minor changes for now.
