Little Things Mean a Lot
The Century21 website has a nice little dis-ambiguation feature in it’s search function. If you search for a number that could be either an MLS (multiple listing service) number or a zip code, it asks you to clarify (see screenshot). Another approach would have been to show results for both searches and provide a sort option, but this would have been a much more complicated display and could have been difficult for users to comprehend. Instead, a useful extra step gets you what you wanted. Clients sometimes resist extra clicks on principle. But we often argue that an extra click can often improve the overall experience significantly. This is a good example.
