Mapping the UX of Real Estate Searches

Published
by
scenariogirl
on July 9, 2009
in Site Reviews and User Experience
. Closed

Researching property on Google Maps Real Estate is a bit like ordering crab for dinner. A lot of effort for a little bit of meat.

I spend a lot of time on real estate websites. I make (sometimes numerous) daily visits and average about 7 hours a week for personal use (I’ll no doubt regret saying that). So Google Maps (And let’s just be honest here, that’s all it is: a mapping device with a couple of filters) just isn’t the right tool “for me” at the moment. That’s not to say it isn’t useful, I just doubt it’s going to “badly hurt Australian websites“. While it does appear to be good at aggregating information usually found in the top three Australian real estate websites (in my case), that’s about all it does for now.

I say ‘at the moment’ and ‘for now’ because who knows what they intend to do in the future. But let’s put this in perspective, Google isn’t exactly known for fantastic User Experiences. Right now, the most likely scenario for me may be to use it as a ready made RSS feed, one that just happens to have a few simple filters.

While it’s true, real estate sites have appropriated a very useful (Google) mapping tool to improve the user experience of their online offerings, Goggle has scraped a huge amount of content and merely added a couple of basic filters. Right now it isn’t even possible to rank property prices in ascending/descending order.

In actual fact, Google Maps is a pretty lousy research tool. Even fundamental nationwide searches to identify properties using price as a filter can be frustrating. Search results are inaccurate and clearly the result of non-human input. Who would have thought you could get a 42 sq. house in the outer Melbourn suburb of Berwick for a single buck (AUD$1)? As much as my inner slum lord wanted to, it took me about as long as it does to copy and paste the url into a browser to realise you can’t… $1 or $1.1 MILLION. What’s the difference?

And that’s another of the many frustrations I experienced on the site. Way too many clicks and C+V’s to view a property.

The worst part is, I just don’t trust it. And when I say trust, I don’t mean I think they’re tracking all my mouse clicks or they’ve got a dodgy URL (and they do). I just don’t trust that I’m getting all the available data. If I search for Darlington, for example, and get results for Alexandria and Ultimo (both two suburbs away), I do wonder what gems I might have missed. Moving across to Annandale, it tells me there are “about 1,964 (properties for sale)”. Doubtful, considering it has a population of just over 8,000 people and is about 1 square KM in size. But, I could be wrong.

In a nut shell, it’s a cute little RSS feed, but it certainly won’t replace my good old fashioned email alerts and hard core physical dredging… I don’t mind working for my food, but I do want something in return. Having said all that though, I’ve just found an interesting place that promises a 7+% return p/a… so in hind sight…it does show *some* promise, perhaps…

2nd Birthday Party: UPA Sydney

Published
by
scenariogirl
on June 23, 2009
in Events
. Closed

The Sydney UPA Chapter are celebrating their 2nd Birthday in a social event with two short, but very cool talks and a couple of excellent prizes!

I really hope to see a wide cross section of the Sydney web community at this event. User Experience is something that many more of us are aware of in our work these days, and we have a couple of brilliant presentations that will be of interest to anyone working on the web.

With this party, we hope to relaunch regular UPA events, leading with UX topics that are challenging, accessible and of interest to the wider web community.

The event is open to everyone but rsvp’s are essential.

When?

Wednesday 1st July 2009
6pm for 6.30pm till 10pm

Where?

Level 3, Blacket Hotel
70 King Street
Corner of King & George Streets

What’s happening?

1) Prizes and give-aways including a free ticket to UX Australia, as well as an iPod shuffle from Web Directions and discount codes for both conferences on the night.

2) Guest speaker: Dr. Christopher Khalil from News Interactive
The Future of HCI: Intelligent User Interfaces as Agents of Change
In this talk Christopher Khalil will discuss some trends in HCI and what they mean to us as User Experience Practitioners. Is the end nigh for Interaction Design as we know it? Will we all end up being lawyers rather than designers?

3) Guest speaker: Cameron Adams (The Man in Blue) from Google
Google Wave: Designing Communications
Google Wave is a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year.

How much?

Full members* – Free (please bring your membership number)
Associate members and friends of the local Sydney UPA Chapter – $10

*Full members of the UPA Chapter are full members of the parent body Usability Professionals’ Association (http://www.upassoc.org/).

More information on the event and a link to the RSVP are on the UPA Sydney blog post.

Deafness – Reading between the lines

Published
by
scenariogirl
on June 20, 2009
in Chat
. 17 Comments

Last night, at what was supposed to be a charming overnight stay, I found myself in a a heated discussion that very quickly escalated to a rather angry argument and a very annoying two-hour drive home from the Blue Mountains.

A reading group I’m a member of was discussing our latest book, People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. As usual, I hadn’t finished reading it and was surprised to hear that there was reference to a deaf character. Having studied and worked within the deaf community for ten years, I was interested in what the other readers thought about the character.

However, within just a few minutes, the discussion had denigrated to a disagreement as to whether or not deaf, Deaf and Deaf-blind people are, by definition, psychologically impaired. Being in such disbelief at what I was hearing, I tried to clarify what was being said. Surely there wasn’t a 30-something psycho-analyst beside me saying that Deafness and blindness naturally affect the psychology of a person merely by virtue of the fact that the eyes and ears are connected to the brain!

Of course there are deaf and blind people who have psychological illnesses, but to say that it is because they are deaf or blind is ridiculous.

Sixteen hours later I sit here writing this post, trying to understand how I might have misunderstood what was being said. But its offensiveness is unabated and continues to anger me. It is opinions such as these that continue to disable people of these communities. Misinformed ‘professionals’ who have no real knowledge of what they speak, who have never met nor worked with the people they describe, who make such ludicrous statements, are of course entitled to their opinion. But such ignorance! Such ignorance!

Ignorance such as this will never be considered bliss in my world.

Supa! Social UPA

Published
by
scenariogirl
on May 27, 2009
in Events and Usability
. 3 Comments

Psssssst! Pass it on!

There’s another Social UPA planned for next Thursday, June 4th. And in case you’re wondering, you don’t have to be a UPA member to attend, if you’re working in the area of UX or interested in it, come along. It’s all about catching up, meeting, mixing and talking shop.

We’ll be holding it in the same place, upstairs at the Art House Hotel, on Pitt street, Sydney, from 5:30pm.

One thing I’d really like to mention is that Raymond Van Der Zalm, the current President of the Sydney UPA chapter will be there.

Elections for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer are being held for Sydney UPA in June, so if you’re at all interested in taking a more active role, come along to Supa next Thursday and ask Raymond all the tough questions! He *loves* it!

See you at Supa!

Accessible Cinema at the Sydney Film Festival

Published
by
scenariogirl
on May 27, 2009
in Accessibility and Events
. 1 Comment

When I moved up to Sydney from Melbourne in 1997, I honestly thought I’d be here for a year or so before I moved back home again. Twelve years later I’m still here, and twelve years later I’m still saying “this year I’m going to buy a subscription to the Sydney Film Festival and take 11 days off to go to the movies…”.

Taking 11 days off at this time of year to sit in the cinema is a bit of a fantasy really. But there are three movies I’d really like to see this year, and I think you might like them too.

A Good Man

An Australian documentary that illustrates the loving relationship of Chris and his wife Mary, who suffered a massive stroke 14 years ago, leaving her unable to walk or talk.

An Inverell farmer with the usual worries about the weather and the bank, Chris comes up with a bizarre solution to their financial woes – a brothel.

Saturday 6 June, 2:00 PM, 80 minutes
Greater Union George Street,Sydney

Blind Loves

A Slovakian film that combines documentary and fiction to depict a variety of scenarios in which people who are blind fall in love.

Miro and Monika are in love, but her parents disapprove not of his blindness but his Romany roots. As a hairdresser snips, a pregnant woman reveals anxieties and hopes. We meet Peter and Iveta, sitting listening to ski jumping – and in a wonderful sequence imagining a walk along the seabed.

Sunday 7 June, 12:30 PM, 77 minutes
Dendy Opera Quays, Sydney

The Horse Boy

A North American film that tells the story of autism, family and an attempt to treat the condition with traditional Mongolian spiritual healing. It sounds like a bit of a stretch for me, and probably the one I’d most likely miss if I had to pick one.

Journalist Rupert Isaacson and his psychology professor wife, Kristin, are struggling to cope with their autistic son, Rowan. The only time he’s calm is when he’s on horseback. They decide to travel to Mongolia, a land famed for its horses and shamans, to see if traditional healing can help. Their journey, intercut with footage of their life in Texas and testimony with autism experts, is both a spiritual and emotional rollercoaster.

Sunday 7 June, 2:00 PM, 93 minutes
Greater Union George Street, Sydney

So if I had to pick just one, my money’s on The Good Man. It sounds like a raw and engaging film that is bound to warm my heart. I’ll be seeing that one, for sure.