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Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

askizzy.org.au

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Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#71

Post by Riseed »

cubano wrote: post #65
bobbles wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offtopic, but I don't suppose you could provide any insight into why real estate websites ask for search filters and then completely ignore them? (eg. if i search for a max limit of $750K, top page of results will all be offer 800k+ sites? - Why let me set a max then ignore it?)

As someone who has built many real estate sites, this is done on purpose as a "fuzzy-logic" search as agents feel anyone willing to spend $750k for a home can be easily induced to spend 5-10% more if the right property catches their fancy.

If I have wiggle room, I make my max inclusive of the "x% more if it catches my fancy". It's unintuitive to search for "max $680k" to ensure results are within a $750k budget. As someone who uses real estate sites, this is enough friction to send me elsewhere, where, as tamana says, my preferences and ability are respected. Why not add a slider bar for "perfect place" wiggle room amount/percentage, with a 10% default, but which the user can set to zero?

Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#73

Post by borkabrak »

telecuda wrote: post #18

Idea: Put free WiFi hotspots in homeless areas (SSID: AskIzzy) that go directly to (and are limited to) your site when the browser launches. Remember that people often have phones but are out of data/minutes when they need help the most.

Great idea, but -- why limit it to one site? If bandwidth is the concern, I'd still suggest making available a small suite of sites of special interest to the homeless.

Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#74

Post by jscn »

gaelian wrote: post #67
danielheath wrote: post #16

Main dev on the project here (I work for rea-group.com who run www.realestate.com.au, but they've given me a years secondment to the project). Back in 2013 a team at our hackday implemented the precursor to this app, and the leadership team were super impressed. It's been amazing working so closely with the sector (we meet/do user testing with representatives from lots of organisations). This is my first project with…

A bit of data feedback for you, getting to this page on your app: https://askizzy.org.au/category/have-your-say/in/2601-Austra... Suggests that the Commonwealth Ombudsman does not have an office in Canberra. They actually do though[1]. Cool project, good luck with it! 1. http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/pages/contact-us/our-offices/ind...

Thanks for the feedback, gealian! I've let our data team know about the problem.

Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#75

Post by borkabrak »

I love this idea. Unfortunately, everything I tried gave me:

    Sorry, I couldn't do this search.

    Could not find a location matching "Nashville, Tennessee"
I'm.. so proud. :-/

One more reason (as if I need more) to be thankful I do at least have a roof over my head.

Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#76

Post by jscn »

prawn wrote: post #52
mrmondo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the input, if it's not too much trouble would you mind submitting where you are and what you searched for perhaps with a screenshot of the map to the 'submit feedback' at the bottom of the page?

I'm in Halifax Street (Adelaide 5000). It showed a hotline, two local options and then the rest were over a week's walk away.

Thanks, prawn, I believe I've reproduced the issue and we're looking into it.

Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#77

Post by bobbles »

cubano wrote: post #65
bobbles wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offtopic, but I don't suppose you could provide any insight into why real estate websites ask for search filters and then completely ignore them? (eg. if i search for a max limit of $750K, top page of results will all be offer 800k+ sites? - Why let me set a max then ignore it?)

As someone who has built many real estate sites, this is done on purpose as a "fuzzy-logic" search as agents feel anyone willing to spend $750k for a home can be easily induced to spend 5-10% more if the right property catches their fancy.

Yeah but what this actually does is "great, since they competency ignored my search criteria, I will no longer use this search"

I know what my budget is - I'm not going to search for 10% under that in the hopes that the fuzzy logic brings up exactly what im looking for

Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#78

Post by bobbles »

Riseed wrote: post #71
cubano wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has built many real estate sites, this is done on purpose as a "fuzzy-logic" search as agents feel anyone willing to spend $750k for a home can be easily induced to spend 5-10% more if the right property catches their fancy.

If I have wiggle room, I make my max inclusive of the "x% more if it catches my fancy". It's unintuitive to search for "max $680k" to ensure results are within a $750k budget. As someone who uses real estate sites, this is enough friction to send me elsewhere, where, as tamana says, my preferences and ability are respected. Why not add a slider bar for "perfect place" wiggle room amount/percentage, with a 10% default…

Exactly, and the next problem is that it seems like EVERY real estate site does this. I have not found a SINGLE site in Australia to look for rent OR buy real estate, that actually filters based on what I enter. They are all useless

Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#79

Post by yitchelle »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #68
telecuda wrote: post #18

Idea: Put free WiFi hotspots in homeless areas (SSID: AskIzzy) that go directly to (and are limited to) your site when the browser launches. Remember that people often have phones but are out of data/minutes when they need help the most.

The city I'm in just has free wifi throughout the CBD.

Which city?

Re: Show HN: AskIzzy – a mobile website for homeless people

#80

Post by shitlord »

telecuda wrote: post #18

Idea: Put free WiFi hotspots in homeless areas (SSID: AskIzzy) that go directly to (and are limited to) your site when the browser launches. Remember that people often have phones but are out of data/minutes when they need help the most.

What if they want to check their email to see if they got a job or a place to stay?
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