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Column: Search Matters

UXmatters has published 18 editions of the column Search Matters.

Top 3 Trending Search Matters Columns

  1. Best Practices for Designing Faceted Search Filters

    Search Matters

    Creating the ultimate finding experience

    A column by Greg Nudelman
    September 7, 2009

    Recently, Office Depot redesigned their search user interface, adding attribute-based filtering and creating a more dynamic, interactive user experience. Unfortunately, Office Depot’s interaction design misses some key points, making their new search user interface less usable and, therefore, less effective. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Office Depot site presents us with an excellent case study for demonstrating some of the important best practices for designing filters for faceted search results, as follows:

    1. Decide on your filter value-selection paradigm—either drill-down or parallel selection.
    2. Provide an obvious and consistent way to undo filter selection.
    3. Always make all filters easily available.
    4. At every step in the search workflow, display only filter values that correspond to the available items, or inventory.
    5. Provide filter values that encompass all items, or the complete inventory.

    By following the attribute-based filtering design best practices this article describes, you can ensure your customers can take care of business without having to spend time struggling with your search user interface. Read More

  2. The Mystery of Filtering by Sorting

    Search Matters

    Creating the ultimate finding experience

    A column by Greg Nudelman
    July 6, 2009

    What is the difference between filtering and sorting for a search query? Any SQL developer would be happy to tell you that a sort translates to a SQL ORDER BY statement, while a SQL WHERE clause performs a filter. However, for most users of consumer-facing ecommerce applications, the difference between a sort and a filter presents a mystery they understand dimly, if at all. The distinction between sorting and filtering blurs, because of a phenomenon I’ve called filtering by sorting, which leads to all sorts of interesting search user interface implications. Read More

  3. Making $10,000 a Pixel: Optimizing Thumbnail Images in Search Results

    Search Matters

    Creating the ultimate finding experience

    A column by Greg Nudelman
    May 11, 2009

    In search results, the old adage a picture is worth a thousand words rings true. When it comes to making your search results more efficient to use, more relevant, and more attractive, images reign supreme. There is simply nothing else on your search results pages that can come close to offering the same potential as thumbnail images for dramatically increasing your conversion rates and revenues.

    While your Web site’s image requirements are likely unique, there are some common pitfalls you might encounter in using images in your search results. The good news is that you can easily avoid most of these mistakes with awareness and a little foresight. Read More

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