Modern Home Search vs. List Browsing

Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 10:40 pm By Ryan Brown

Thanks to Ben of modernaustin.com for linking to my modern home search today. I also owe him a big thanks for being one of my early beta testers. In addition to his knowledge of Austin architecture, Ben also knows a good bit about UI design.

This comment from David Mathias on Ben’s post today got me thinking:

I liked Ryan’s old listings better than his new tool. Yes, it was a pain to go through 200+ condo listings to find one you were interested in, but it was fun to browse if you had a free moment…

This is an interesting perspective. I created the new map-based home search to allow users to actually search homes for sale in Austin (by price, location, etc.). Before this I only had a list of modern homes – the user was not able to filter by price or location. They couldn’t even change the order. Here is a screenshot of the old interface (which is still up to date and available here).

Old Austin Modern Home List Interface

To David’s point – the list may be better for those who are more browsing than searching. What do you think? Let me know in the comments. I can’t promise immediate changes, but my goal is to continually improve the search based on your feedback. Perhaps a photo/browsing interface in addition to the map search is in order?

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Austin, Home Search, InspiredAustin.com. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Filed under Austin, Home Search, InspiredAustin.com

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4 Responses to “Modern Home Search vs. List Browsing”

1. David Mathias Says:
   May 6th, 2008 at 1:22 am

   I was surprised to see my note quoted, Ryan. I’m glad you’re polling your audience on this topic. If I were looking to create a better search tool than ABOR or AvenueOne’s I’d choose yours. Unfortunately, a better search tool doesn’t make the properties more affordable…. Maybe that’s why browsing was more fun for me. Good luck with the remodel. I’ll be watching for tips and recommendations.

2. Ryan Brown Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 8:43 pm

   Hi David,

   I appreciate your specific input. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. In the meantime I’ll add a link to the original list view in the sidebar.

3. Jeanne Says:
   May 13th, 2008 at 8:23 am

   I would have to agree with David – browsing is more fun! I missed the list when the map went up; the map is time consuming and takes several steps to reach information. Furthermore, the list being in the same order let me know whether there were any new houses listed since the last time I’d visited the website – I could immediately recognize which houses I’d seen already. I say go with both!

4. Ryan Brown Says:
   May 15th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

   Good points Jeanne, thank you for your input. A few clients (who have recently purchased homes) let me know they also prefer the old list. Obviously they are no longer in search mode, they just like to watch what interesting properties come on the market.

   I have added a link in the sidebar (upper right) to the old modern home list. Enjoy!

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