For a video of a similar talk, see: http://interaction.ixda.org/videos-slides/

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Peter Morville, IA Summit 1

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Design for Discovery
Search
Patterns
Peter Morville & Jeffery Callender
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in•for•ma•tion ar•chi•tec•ture n.
• The structural design of shared
information environments.
• The combination of organization,
labeling, search, and navigation
systems in web sites and intranets.
• The art and science of shaping
information products and experiences
to support usability and findability.
• An emerging discipline and
community of practice focused on
bringing principles of design and
architecture to the digital landscape.
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Design for Discovery
“Search is among the
most disruptive
innovations of our time.
It influences what we
buy and where we go. It
shapes how we learn
and what we believe.”
Search
Patterns
Peter Morville & Jeffery Callender
Illustrated by Jeff Callender, Q LTD
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Most of the complaints
we get are due to the way
users search; they use
the wrong keywords.
t's
ght. I
That's Ri
Yeah. rs!
d Use
e Stupi
thos
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$earch Metrics
Home Depot
• Conversion rate increased over 30% in first two weeks.
• Double digit increase in average order size.
Cabot Corporation
• Technical information downloads increased by 48%.
• Email and telephone inquiries reduced by 21%.
Sigma-Aldrich
• Increased successful searches from 53% to 83%.
• Increased site traffic to the final product detail page by 80%.
“A leading e-commerce site reported a revenue increase
of $370 million in the year following launch.”
Source: Endeca 9

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Marcia Bates: Berrypicking, Evolving Search (1989)
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Search is a…
Complex, Adaptive System
Goals Interaction Features Indexing Tools
Psychology Affordances Technology Structure Process
Behavior Language Algorithms Metadata Incentives
Interface
Query Results Engine Content
Users Creators
Source: Search Patterns (2010) 11

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Principles of Design
Incremental Construction
Progressive Disclosure
Immediate Response User
Predictability
Alternate Views
Information
Recognition Over Recall
Minimal Disruption
Direct Manipulation
Interface
Context of Use
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Incremental Construction Progressive Disclosure
one step at a time… more within reach… 13

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Immediate Response Predictability
flow requires feedback… feed-forward features and results…
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Direct Manipulation Context of Use
tapping into muscle memory… the delight is in the details… 15

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18. Realtime Search morville@semanticstudios.com
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19. Mobile Search morville@semanticstudios.com
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20. Kiosk Search morville@semanticstudios.com
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21. TV Search morville@semanticstudios.com
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There is one timeless way of building.
It is thousands of years old, and the same
today as it has always been.
The great traditional buildings of the past,
the villages and tents and temples in
which man feels at home, have always
been made by people who were very close
to the center of this way.
It is not possible to make great buildings,
or great towns, beautiful places, places
where you feel yourself, places where you
feel alive, except by following this way.
And, as you will see, this way will lead
anyone who looks for it to buildings
which are themselves as ancient in
their form, as the trees and hills,
and as our faces are.
The Timeless Way of Building
Christopher Alexander
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Window Place (180)
Everybody loves window seats,
bay windows, and big windows
with low sills and comfortable
chairs drawn up to them.
May be part of:
• Entrance Room (130)
• Zen View (134)
• Light on Two Sides (159)
• Street Windows (164)
May contain:
• Alcoves (179)
• Low Sill (222)
• Built-In Seats (202)
• Deep Reveals (223)
A Pattern Language
Christopher Alexander et al.
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25. Behavior Patterns morville@semanticstudios.com
Quit
Query Results
Thrashing
Query Results
Narrow
Query Results Results
Pearl Growing
Document Results
Expand
Query Results Results
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Auto-Complete Federated Search
Query Results
Qu... Results Destination
Suggestions
Best First
Faceted Navigation
Query Results
Query Results Results
Advanced Search Structured Results
Query Map
AND Results
OR
NOT
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Auto-Complete
Qu... Results Destination
Suggestions
Because typing (and typos) take time. 27

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Auto-Complete Auto-Suggest
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Best First
Query Results
In search, results must be simple, fast, and relevant. 30

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43%
15%
10%
5%
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Source: Marti Hearst’s
Search User Interfaces (2009)

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Federated Search
Query Results
Because users don’t know where to look. 35

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Faceted Navigation
Query Results Results
Multiple ways to search (and browse) in combination. 38

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>
14 - 15 Inch > Bluetooth > 4 - 5 lbs
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Limited facets after Rich facets upon
initial search. selecting a category.
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48. Structured Results
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49. Actionable Results
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51. Redefining Search
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52. Question Answering
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53. Decision Making morville@semanticstudios.com
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54. Understanding morville@semanticstudios.com
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55. Pattern Recognition
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56. What We Search morville@semanticstudios.com
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57. How We Search morville@semanticstudios.com
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Source: Subject to Change (2008)

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My Shelf
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find·a·bil·i·ty n
The quality of being locatable or
navigable.
The degree to which an object is
easy to discover or locate.
The degree to which a system or
environment supports wayfinding,
navigation, and retrieval.
am·bi·ent adj
Surrounding; encircling;
enveloping (e.g., ambient air)
the ability to find anyone or anything
from anywhere at anytime 61

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David Rose
ambientdevices.com
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65. Spime Search morville@semanticstudios.com
WineM
A smart wine rack that uses RFID to
track bottles in the rack and identify
ones that fit the selection criteria.
Collectors and restaurants can use
WineM racks to search collections
The wine can be dynamically
reorganized by any combination of
year, region, price, etc.
A handheld device accepts queries,
and full-color LED lights transform
the rack and bottles into a search
results interface. The system even
supports faceted navigation. 65

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67. Augmented Reality
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New Soft City
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by Dan Hill

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New Soft City by Dan Hill
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Urban Sensing by Dan Hill

71. Search is a Wicked Problem
morville@semanticstudios.com
• Hybrid between design,
engineering, and marketing.
• No definitive formulation.
• Considerable uncertainty.
• Complex interdependencies.
• Incomplete, contradictory, and
changing requirements.
• Stakeholders have radically
different world views.
• It’s a project and a process.
• The problem is never solved.
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User Experience Honeycomb: Searcher’s Edition
Useful Accessible
Is it useful? Is search the right Will it work for all users? Are
solution? Will it help our users features and results accessible
achieve their goals? And, given to blind and visually impaired
the state of technology, should users? Can people search from
we revisit our goals? Can search a wide variety of platforms and
be more? browsers?
Usable Credible
Is it easy to use with maximum Does the design inspire trust?
efficiency and minimal error? Do the order and display of
Are there affordances for novice results convey authority? Will
and expert searchers? Are there users believe that the top
gentle slopes to support results are the best or most
learning? popular or most relevant?
Desirable Valuable
Is it satisfying to use? Does it What is the value of search?
make people want to search? Does it build the bottom line or
Does it embody the values and advance the mission? Is the
identity of your brand? Does user experience aligned with
search leverage the power of strategy? Can search confer
emotional design? competitive advantage?
Findable Erasable
Can users find your site? Can How do these qualities interact?
they find their way around your Which are most and least
site? Can they find your content important to search? What have
despite your site? Is search we missed? Go ahead. Erase a
aligned with search engine few. Add your own. This is only
optimization? a place to start. 72

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IA Therefore I Am
Peter Morville
morville@semanticstudios.com
Search Patterns
http://searchpatterns.org/
New!
Semantic Studios
http://semanticstudios.com/
Blog
http://findability.org/
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