I don’t know when it happened, but I recently noticed a change Foursquare made that totally simplified what once required thought.

I remember using an early version of the app that had an explicit distance filter. As in, if you’re searching for coffee, choose or enter a numerical value for the area you want covered. OK, it’s not THAT complex a load for your mind to handle, it was just kind of annoying to be that precise, or give the perception that you needed to be. Don’t make me think, and all that jazz.

Now I get a much more tangible distance filter. A map.

When I zoom in and out of the map, or pan around, the Search this location button appears, updating the listings if tapped. It’s something I didn’t even notice until I did. Now that’s intuitive. It’s mirrored on the desktop site too.

This isn’t the first instance of it by any means. Google Maps seemingly does it dynamically, removing the need for an explicit button to redo the search.

It’s all a gentle reminder and note to self to keep thinking in this way.