how people search for locations
DESCRIPTION
Ed's talk from SOTM09 in Amsterdam.TRANSCRIPT
How people search for locations(and how OSM can make it easier)
Ed FreyfogleSOTM2009
Who am I?
Property search engine
Currently four EU countries
1M+ users/monthAll searching for locations
Users are weird and make mistakes
Key Learning:
Mis pellings and typos^S
• “marlyebone”
• “clarkenwell”
• “balencia”
• “mannnheim”
• “direnze”
To much information
• “London E1”
• “in der nähe von münchen”
• “greater birmingham”
• “UK soho london england great brit”
• “Maiano di Firenze”
Not enough information
• “Zentrum”
• “near the station”
• “South”
• “Gran Via”
• “ vista mare”
Is that supposed to mean something?
• K, B, KA
• hearts & beds, Chueca
• 0207, 089
• 20100
• 2brücken
Usability issues
Search box: above the fold
Usability issues
Search box: ABOVE THE FOLD
Usability issues
Search box: ABOVE THE FOLD!!!!
Usability issues
Search box:??????????
OSM actually has a good search
It’s just not on osm.org and no one knows about it. Why not?(note where the search box is!!!!)
We want to helpWe will sponsor someone to work on making OSM / open source geo query parsing better.
• Office space (in Central London)• Datasets• Computers• Funding
Ideal project for student?
Thanks OSM Community!
Learn more
http://blog.nestoria.co.ukTwitter: @nestoria
Questions?