Search Done Right

In the early days of the Automobile Age, Henry Ford famously quipped, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” In today’s Information Age, that’s like saying anyone looking for information can have any results as long as they are ranked in a simple list. Hogwash!

Nothing against lists, but as far as information representation goes, lists are just the beginning of what’s possible for presenting information in response to a query, whether it be explicit (e.g. in response to a search query) or implicit (e.g. dynamically loaded content). Depending on the type of information being presented, lists may or may not be the most clear and effective way to present the answers you are seeking.

Think of it this way: when you search for weather radar in your local ZIP code, you naturally expect to see a graphical representation of precipitation in your area with indications of motion, type (e.g. rain, snow, etc.) and possibly a forecast of future position and intensity. Sure, that information could be presented in a text-based list, but that would not be nearly as useful or powerful as the graphical presentation.

The same thing goes for search filtering mechanisms.  Let’s say you want to limit your results to a certain date range.  A text field for entering the date digits would be sufficient, but it would likely be far more useful to have a calendar displayed that allows you to see the days of the week, for example, and single click on the date of your choice.

These types of convenient interface mechanisms may seem trivial at times, but they allow the information system to respond more rapidly to the speed of our thoughts and go a long way towards maintaining the overall flow of information.

As inquisitive consumers of information, we sometimes take these different types of search result representations for granted and really only notice if the provider of the information got it wrong somehow.  (A search on the web for “poor interface design example” reveals some interesting studies in bad design decisions.)

If you are tasked with the job of making information more accessible in your enterprise, maybe as part of your job or volunteer organization, you should consider how the information you are trying to make accessible will be presented to the end user and make sure to select a platform that is up to the job.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 5:42 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.