Usability – designing for people

OnOneMap.com is a great UK property search web site which raises the bar in its field. Call it a Web2.0 mashup if you must, this uses the excellent Google Maps API to give an expansive search/browse/drag experience which plots property locations right on the map.

The site also offers additional layers of information, including the location of supermarkets, schools and mobile phone masts. Of course OnOneMap just pulls all the data together, so when you click through on a property for details, you end up on the Estate Agent’s site, or another property search site where the experience starts to rapidly degrade.

There are a few sites doing this now, but OnOneMap.com is has been around for a while and is probably the best example of its type. This is a big leap forward in usability and a great tool for finding properties and researching the area. I just hope Estate Agents embrace this kind of initiative and participate fully in it.

Incidentally, I might have picked up on this site earlier if it had a .co.uk domain – I suspect the .com domain made me dismiss it as US-centric.