Roost Redesigns Search Results
Roost.com, recent Inman Innovator Award recipient, has redesigned its real estate search results pages.
The biggest change is the search criteria, which were previously available on the left and right sides of the listing results and are now all above the fold. They are now, according to company PR, “completely hide-able” too.
Once expanded, the criteria panels slide from left to right. It reminds me somewhat of the Xbox 360’s dashboard tabbed interface which features 5 “blades” that also slide in and out.
The goal, I’m guessing, is to get people right to the meat of the search, the results, quickly and not clutter it up with too much extraneous information. Also notable is the map results now take advantage of Google’s new terrain image data and the map pins dynamically update as you view the listings.
Overall, it’s a pleasant experience. But it strikes me that it may still be a bit much for the average real estate consumer. The bigger issue here is that as more and more filters get added to Real Estate 2.0 search tools; neighborhood boundaries, school districts, keyword searches, I’m finding myself a little overwhelmed with options.
Ultimately the challenge for any of these sites, lies in creating a user experience that is both rich with data and pleasant, intuitive and easy to use.
Companies like Redfin, Estately, Trulia and Roost are all creating innovative new ways to present the massive amounts of data that is available to online searchers. But, in many cases, the rush to add even more features (fsbos, foreclosures, mls/broker listings, local context) to search results isjust adding more noise.
I applaud Roost’s attempt to ‘hide’ some of this features but personally I’m still waiting for someone to bring Google-like (or even Cuil-like) simplicity to real estate search results.
Galen @ Estately | Aug 1, 2008 | Reply
Joel, Google-style results are tricky – Google has one sorting methodology and one set of criteria. There is a reason that people don't use Google for searching for products (think headphones – Google will take you to a site that will help you narrow your selection). Estately (and Roost and the others) is trying to quickly and easilyhelp people search for homes with the criteria they want, but not clutter the interface with the stuff they don't want.
Fortunately for us, consumers aren't all beds and price shoppers.
Joel Burslem | Aug 1, 2008 | Reply
I hear ya Galen, it's a tough nut to crack. I love what Estately and Roost are doing to push the envelope – just feeling we're not quite there yet. I still feel overwhelmed sometimes with all the choices I have to make when I visit many of these sites. I wonder if others are similarly put off.
Maybe we all just need to jack in directly to the Net Matrix-style and have the site instantly know what we want to see.
Evan Sharp | Aug 1, 2008 | Reply
I think that you found a really good point here – “Filtering” as a method of searching is still relatively new to the web, and is confusing to a lot of users. It is my hope that as more and more sites adopt the idea, people will become more familiar with the power it allows you over the data you're searching. It's good to remember that, in general, more complex filters are *optional*; that the best way to search is to think of exactly what you're looking for and then try and mirror that idea as closely as possible with the filters the site gives you.
Anyway, Roost does a good job of offering a bunch of filters, but I find the “bladed” interface unintuitive: the “blade” titles are vertical text (interface design 101), hiding filters makes seeing your options more difficult, and the filters move in two directions – horizontally to see more filters, and vertically to hide them entirely. This makes constructing a mental model of how the page operates more difficult than is has to be.
All that said, it's good that residential real estate is so simple compared to other kinds of real estate. Imagine trying to create a search engine that allows you to navigate lease & sale listings, along with a boatload of property types: industrial, office, vacant-land, etc. As confusing as searching for a home can be, it could be a lot worse.
Drew Izzo | Aug 1, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the applause Joel! This design was in response to customer feedback to provide more usable space to see what they’ve come to Roost to see – all the homes for sale in any given market. At http://www.roost.com we feel – and the initial response from our user base has indicated that we’ve make great progress towards that goal. “Simple,” “clean,” “great use of whitespace,” “wicked fast” are some of the tidbits we’re getting from users. I agree that this is no easy task to provide all the features & functionality that users want in a clean and clear way. We’ll continue to, with the help of our consumers and experts like you, try to improve Roost.com.
Incredible Agent | Aug 2, 2008 | Reply
I like the changes they've made. The original design was a bit difficult to deal with at times.
Adam | Aug 4, 2008 | Reply
I dig the design of the site – but they just don't have listings for any of the areas in which I need to search. Until the content is in place, style won't make much difference.
Ken Greenwood | Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
If you’re waiting for a Google-esque home search tool, you need not wait any further. I just built it and it not only allows you to search on anything with the MLS record, it’s beautifully designed (patting myself on the back).
Check out a live version at: http://www.cindyoatess.com
And a demo with me explaining how it’s built at:
http://www.oneworldmedia.com/mls/demo.htm