SDL announced today the launch of the LSPZone, an online directory of translation agencies who support Trados/SDL products.

While I like the idea of having such a site, the execution of the agency search engine is downright painful. As it stands now I just don't see many clients using it more than once.

For example, I simply wanted to do a quick lookup of every agency in the US. So I selected the country and hit the search button and I got this...

So I have to enter pull-down hell again and select a source and target language. But let's say I've got a dozen language pairs to cover or let's say I just want to quickly find out what agencies are listed in my country. It's as if the search interface is in "advanced" mode automatically. What I'd like to see is a "simple" mode that allows for single-field searching.

But this is just the first iteration of the site. I'm sure it will improve over time. Check it out and let me know if you agree with me or think I'm just being grouchy...