The critical user action for using the data table is to press Enter. However, it is easy to forget to do this and then the results are "stale", especially after submitting several search criteria and going back and forth with the map. I recommend that one or more of the following is done to improve the user experience:
Add tooltips to one or more of the components and stress that Enter must occur to refresh the results. Tool tip suggestions are as follows:
Search layer data: Enter text to search in may layer data shown below. Press Enter to apply.
Find from address: Enter an address to search for. Press Enter to apply.
Address radius (future feature): Specify a radius and units to search near an address.
Filter: should the initial text also be in a tooltip? Don't want to interfere with data entry.
Detect the previous/initial search string and if the current string is different, display a hint somewhere or maybe have an Apply button on the far right of the filter area. If the Apply button is added, it can be enabled/disabled based on the string and tool tip can be added to that button indicating that use can also press Enter equivalent to Apply. People will probably figure out that Apply and Enter are equivalent.
The critical user action for using the data table is to press Enter. However, it is easy to forget to do this and then the results are "stale", especially after submitting several search criteria and going back and forth with the map. I recommend that one or more of the following is done to improve the user experience: