In The Elements of User Experience, Jesse James Garrett wrote that “users don’t visit Web sites to experience the joy of navigation”. It’s true – they don’t. They just want to get to the information they are looking for, which makes information architecture really important to the User experience. The use of Search is one such way Users try and find what they are looking for. Anyone who has done a search on a website has probably had a not so pleasant experience where they got back a totally different set of results than what they expected or nothing all at. Websites have experimented with various different ways to improving search, whether it is through an Advanced Search, adding filters, or providing additional suggestions.

Google Suggest is one innovative way which assists Users in getting the results they want. If you are not familiar with it, Google Suggest provides frequently searched phrases based on the letters or words in your query as you type and even lists the number of results. This feedback is given pre-search, increasing the chances of a successful search, rather than trying to improve on the results after the search.

Yahoo! has also gotten into the game by adding their own Suggest feature on their homepage. Unlike Google Suggest, the matching letters are also highlighted. Users have the ability to turn the feature on and off as well.

The good folks at Apple have taken things one step further and incorporated pictures in their search. Besides the added benefit of the image, they have also separated the results into different categories and provided a short description. These extra bits of information can make a world of difference to the User in finding what they want. It is clear, organized, and Users have a better idea of what to expect if they use the suggestion.

The Apple website is an example of a good User Experience design. I had not seen this feature on their site before because I never had the need to search, as I could find what I wanted through their simple navigation menu. Sites that have many products for sale could really benefit by incorporating a similar search mechanism. The possibilities are endless. At the same time one must be careful not to diminish the User Experience by over-doing it. In a world where Users are accustomed to searching with Google and expecting correct results, websites can do a great service for their Users by making search as simple as possible, while at the same time aiding and guiding the User to provide results that are accurate and relevant.