Sid’s Note: This post was written by Anderson Parker of AdaptiveBlue. Thanks a ton to Anderson for filling in for me while I’m away on a holiday.
One question that gets asked across the world everyday is “What do you want to do tonight?”. Enter planjam, a site that offers you fun and romantic date ideas via an e-Commerce interface and AJAX web technology. The site, which was just relaunched, offers users the ability to plan dates and outings, rate and review locations, and obtain driving directions.
I gave it a try by planning an evening in New York (note to my wife: this is a hypothetical date - no need to get excited). I started by selecting New York on the home page and pushing the “plan a date” button. I then could select which activities I wanted to do on this date. The navigation, split between a panel on the left page and a tabbed box on the upper right, was a bit confusing. For example, I wanted to start the night with drinks, so to find a bar I had to click on the Nightlife “date theme” on the left, then the “bars/lounges” tab on the right. This was after searching unsuccessfully under the “places to eat” and “sweets and beverages” categories. I did similar wandering to add a theater and a tea house for after.
Once I found each venue, I dragged it to a little box. Planjam gave me an estimate on how much time this date would take, and how much money it would set me back. I then pushed the “finish planning” button and was able to get driving directions. I could e-mail these directions, but I did not see any way to save this outing.
Planjam offers an interesting spin on the date planning scene. I found their site a bit quirky and non-intuitive, but I was able to make my way through it with some trial and error. I’d like to see them add new features such as a suggestion service that is based on what I’ve currently selected, my own personal history and reviews, and other users experiences and reviews. Doing this could help planjam stand out a bit from similar sites.
