[OSM-dev] Implementing usability improvements

[Paweł Paprota]

Hi Martin,

I guess search is a separate large topic and I wouldn't want to discuss
them all at once. For now (meaning, in this thread) I would like to get
your opinion on the usability/user experience stuff.

It is enough to enter "openstreetmap usability" into a search engine and
there are multiple blog posts and discussions with very valid
suggestions. See for example:

http://www.spatialknowledge.eu/2011/05/openstreetmap-wheres-the-search/
http://oegeo.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/openstreetmap-usability-converting-more-sign-ups-to-active-contributors/
http://osm.gryph.de/2012/04/what-is-this-usability-anyway/
http://www.maploser.com/2012/03/29/all-i-want-for-openstreetmap-is-simple/

I will try to organize this information for myself, dig more into the
code to get the idea on status quo and then take it from there.

Paweł

On Wed, Jul 4, 2012, at 13:14, Martin Koppenhoefer wrote:
> 2012/7/4 Paweł Paprota <ppawel at fastmail.fm>:
> > Thanks for the response. By "on par with Google/Bing Maps" I meant more
> > polished, usable.
> 
> 
> Actually we are already better than Bing ;-) even if we don't wan't to
> compete with them, and even in a field that was for a long time one of
> the most criticized features of OSM (search).
> Try searching "ss155" in bing, google and OSM, and you'll not find
> what you are searching for in Bing, but in Google and OSM. (It is an
> italian primary street reference number). You can also look for "b27"
> or "b 27" (german primary street reference) and you will find 2845
> results in Google (the street not beeing one of the first 50) and 1
> result in Bing (always in UK and not what I was up to) but in OSM
> you'll find instantly the german primary. Is it really that odd to
> search for a street reference number on a map? (SCNR)
> 
> Please keep in mind that there is no official routing service and no
> aerial imagery on osm, so it is obvious that the map view will always
> look quite differently. It might be an interesting idea to link to
> different services (e.g. "get directions" would pop up a window asking
> with which OSM-based service the routing should be done, and then it
> would create a link to the routing service with the start- and
> endpoint preconfigured). There could also be some link to OSM in 3D.
> 
> cheers,
> Martin