There are two ways you can use your radar, it sits to the right of the command buttons on the HUD. You can use the rotation mode(left), where it rotates to show the direction you are facing/moving. You can also hit the toggle radar button to switch to viewpoint(right), where it gives the target area you see but the directions stay in place.
Note: The dots that appear on your radar can help you navigate from place to place or person to person more easily. Green dots are other players, red are enemies, yellow are team members, pink for society members, and blue are NPC's such as the auctioneer.