cre8d design

Ok, well not quite yet but Zoomin is the next best thing and it’s my new favourite map site for New Zealand. While there’s currently no businesses listed, it’s so handy for quickly finding street addresses. I used to use NZ Maps – but that only covered Auckland.

So much has changed in the five years since NZ Maps was created.

Zoomin offers the following advantages:

• Intelligent search – while I type in a street name, possbile matches appear (each with its suburb) with quick links for me to click.
• Just enough information – rather than listing each street name on a map (like traditional paper-based maps), only main roads are shown until I zoom in closer. The address I’m looking for is conveniently marked – rather than having to try and spot the street, then guess where the number might be on it. This makes map viewing seem so simple. When I’m at the street level, I’m provided with a list of other street numbers below the map which I can quickly click on.
• Quick to respond – as I zoom in or out, scroll up or down the page usually doesn’t need to reload – thanks to some handy AJAX behind the scenes. As a result, I’m waiting around less.
• Informative URLs -
  http://www.zoomin.co.nz/auckland/auckland/princes+street/36/
  URLs follow the pattern: Region – City/Town – Street – Number
• Nice design – I firmly believe simple is beautiful.

Great to see a Kiwi company producing useful web products.

(Geek speak: contains AJAX and is almost valid XHTML)