At Onboard Informatics we’ve been helping clients go beyond common geography searches to add real human context to culturally-defined areas for years. Here are some common questions we hear on using Neighborhood Boundaries.

Q. How are Neighborhood Boundaries defined?
A. Neighborhoods are locally defined by various sources and are rarely, if ever, “official” boundaries defined by a government body. As such these local designations may have ambiguity in terms of where they begin and end. Neighborhoods are typically based upon cultural, housing, socio-economic and other characteristics that provide a flavor to the area. Over time, the boundaries between these areas may become less well defined and will certainly move. A great example of this movement is the shrinking of New York City’s Little Italy in conjunction with the growth of Chinatown. As neighborhoods are in constant (though slow) flux, there is often local disagreement as to what constitutes a neighborhood and its borders. Therefore, we have identified and consulted with a large range of sources in the compilation of this information including Real Estate professionals, government and municipal authorities, travel and hospitality professionals and other local experts.

Q. Why do certain neighborhoods have multiple names?
A. Some neighborhoods go by multiple names locally and also overlap with each other. A great example of this is the Wall Street neighborhood in New York which is also part of and referred to as the Financial District. Onboard tries to capture and provide aliases whenever they are available.

Q. How are Neighborhood Boundaries commonly used?
A. Our clients use neighborhood boundaries in a few key ways to help improve local SEO, to provide a better search experience for site visitors, to show the best depiction of the local market and even for data analysis.

• SEO – Create neighborhood landing pages so when someone types a neighborhood name into a search engine your landing pages come up highly ranked.
• Site Search – “Tag” listings with neighborhood names so user can search for listings in the “Financial District” instead of having to know ZIP Code 10004.
• Map Display – Display Neighborhood Boundaries so visitors understand what each distinct neighborhood looks like on a map.
• Data Analysis – Some Onboard clients use the boundaries to analyze other data by “aggregating” data such as office locations, home sales and pricing information so they may understand counts and values by neighborhood.

Q: What’s the best way to display Neighborhood Boundaries on a map?
A: Our clients receive an in-depth guide to help them trough implementation, including our suggestions for best practices with the data. We’ve worked hard to help our clients determine the single “best” neighborhood for an address or parcel, best practices for displaying multiple boundaries, etc. If you’re not yet a client, get in touch with us to learn more.

With the tablet market climbing rigorously and consumers demanding to take control of their information, it only makes sense that the leading data storytellers are using mobile, “touch-aware data visualization” tools where the user can explore and manipulate data. Some companies, such as Roambi, Tableau, and Bloomberg are doing this already.

TouchViz has a great video showcasing data can be touched, manipulated, and scrambled to suit the user.

We’ve been working with a few clients (who we’ll showcase here as soon as they’re ready!) on turning raw data into actionable insights that say, a retail buyer, can manipulate to test their hypotheses.

This evolution isn’t particularly surprising, given our own publishing clients have supplemented static lists with adjustable widgets where the user can find their own Best Places.

If the present is any sign of who the future of information belongs to, it’s those that don’t let “big data” distract from a human-centered experience.

Seen any good examples lately? Let us know in the comments.

The proof that most apps don’t understand that is in the way the navigation is (unintentionally) riddled with giant UX bumps. Many potentially great concepts get hung up on standing on a soapbox instead of putting the user first.

One of the harsh realities of Mobile 102 is channeling those well-intentioned promotional messages that only your brand cares about into something better and more intuitive. Gizmodo makes a great point today in their piece, No One Wants to Download Your App When They Go to Your Website. Pretty self-explanatory title, but there are a few points to think about here.

When mobile users usually only have seconds to be impressed by your content, the last thing you want is to disrupt them with some brand messaging to send them away.

Apps are better than using the browser in many instances, but beware of assuming your brand fits the bill. Remember, your user has chosen to open your site with their browser instead of going first to their App Store. If you have or are thinking about promoting your app via browser, consider:

• What % mobile visitors are new vs. returning? Chances are, your new visitors aren’t going to fork over their storage space for your app.
• How much time are mobile visitors spending on the site? Those looking for a quick reference point probably aren’t going to stick around for the long haul. Casey Chan from Gizmodo compares it to getting bombarded with people pressuring you to sign up for the store’s rewards card.
• If app use is down, it an awareness issue or do your browser users just prefer a quick site visit?
• If your dialog window takes more than .0000001 seconds to close, it’s gotta go.

I’d be willing to bet most mobile users assume you have an app at this point. Sometimes they just want to run in for the gallon of milk and not be bothered.

Incorporating undisruptive calls to action to download the app on your site work way better than a modal box that disrupts the flow.

This US News & World Report article has more on decoding the first-time homebuyer.

]]> http://blog.onboardinformatics.com/2013/05/decoding-the-firs-time-homebuyer/feed/ 0 http://blog.onboardinformatics.com/2013/05/decoding-the-firs-time-homebuyer/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Onblog/~3/Qv6n48d7ggI/ http://blog.onboardinformatics.com/2013/05/the-hidden-challenges-of-relaunching-your-website/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 15:53:09 +0000 Mike Seto, Marketing Intern http://blog.onboardinformatics.com/?p=6324 Are you thinking about redesigning your website? It might seem like an easy decision to make (“I’ll just call my developers and have them come up with some ideas”), but there’s a lot more to the process than meets the eye. Ask yourself these questions before you start the process and you’ll save yourself a big headache later on:

• Am I aware of all the steps/processes I’ll have to take to ensure a successful launch?
• Why am I redesigning my website? What are my goals?
• Do I have a content plan in place to keep my new website up-to-date and engaging?
• Have I done my research on at least 3 different vendors? Do I know their strengths and weaknesses?

Before you start the process of relaunching your website, download our free Redesign Sanity Guide. It lays out a 7-part plan to getting organized from planning all the way through post-launch testing. Whether you’re starting a new marketing initiative or relaunching your entire site, this guide will prepare you for all the unexpected hurdles you’re sure to face.

Well, that depends on what you’re looking to get out of them. In this MSN Real Estate article, LA real estate agent Liz Johnson says only 2-4% of her listings sell from open houses. That’s a dismal number when it comes to closing, sure. But the real reason Liz hosts open houses is to bring her more business long-term.

“Prospective home buyers walk through and ask what other listings she has. ‘They’ve always been better for agents than sellers,’ she says.”

With lengthy sales cycles and buyers only engaging every 5-10 years, handing a branded piece of valuable information to show your expertise and the area around the home can go a long way. That’s exactly what our Comprehensive Reports allow our clients to do.

Click here to learn more.

Olga and her brother Jose running in support of Boston and The One Fund

The Boston Marathon tragedy was a shocking event that affected not only the morale of our country, but sporting events everywhere. Support poured in from all over the nation. The country became Boston.  Even the most loyal Yankee fans were rooting for the Red Sox.

Many runs across the world took place over the weekend to express solidarity with the runners, friends, and family of those affected by the bombing.  People run for various reasons: health, weight loss, and stress relief to name a few. The biggest concern for runners is knee and ankle injury.  No one would ever get to a race and think, “I won’t be safe during my run.” Yet, tragedy happened.

Patriotism along the race route

It’s too soon to predict how the bombings will affect running as a community overall, but it didn’t keep more than 6,000 participants from running in the City Parks Foundation Run for the Parks held at Central Park this weekend. New York Road Runners, along with NYPD, took extra precautions to ensure the safety of participants.

Running behind a sea of back bibs that read, “I run for…BOSTON” brings perspective on how Americans support each other during trying times. Seeing spectators cheer and wave American flags as runners crossed the finish line reminds us that tragedies such as last week’s event will not shake our faith in our country, and most notably, in ourselves.

Click to enlarge

]]> http://blog.onboardinformatics.com/2013/04/bring-the-noise/feed/ 0 http://blog.onboardinformatics.com/2013/04/bring-the-noise/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Onblog/~3/SF2kwylkQIo/ http://blog.onboardinformatics.com/2013/04/making-data-look-cool-again/#comments Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:45:31 +0000 Mike Seto, Marketing Intern http://blog.onboardinformatics.com/?p=6275 Sometimes it’s not the quality of your data, but the way you present it, that’s important.  It’s common knowledge that we have a problem with income inequality in the United States. But the creative minds over at the New Yorker have framed the discussion in a new and interactive way. Take a look at this new infographic comparing the median income for all the stations along New York City’s individual subway lines. This is just plain, boring census data, but presented in an exciting and unique way that makes it stand out. It’s a valuable lesson for all our clients out there looking for new ways to utilize all the Local Content and Lifestyle Search data we offer.