Curating Search Results Logic + Guidance

Shahnawaz Patel
Aug 23, 2017 · 3 min read

Even with full support for most of the important search query types and with perfect autocomplete implementation, it’s important to recognize that a large portion of users will still not get a desirable set of results for their first query attempt. Therefore, it is helpful to focus on making the user’s query-iteration and results-guidance experience as smooth and effective as possible.

Some of the effective strategies PMs can deploy are as follows:

  1. Suggest Alternate Queries and Paths:

Alternate queries and paths can take many forms. They can be anything from suggesting queries that point the user toward another (related) set of products to recommending the removal of a model name or brand from an overly specific query.

Implementations Suggestions —

At its most basic, alternate queries and paths can be as simple as linking to related categories or, better yet, categories that broaden or narrow the user’s search. But what they all have in common is that they need to help the user in either of the following two ways:

Assistance — Suggesting alterations to the user’s search query or the paths they may be interested in based on that query, assisting the user in finding the content they are looking for. It helps close the gap between the terminology and concepts that the user employs and the terminology and concepts that the site has adopted.

Awareness — By suggesting related, associated, and compatible products and categories, the user is exposed to a broader range of the site’s offerings. In this way, the user learns the breadth of the site’s product catalog even if they don’t actively use the suggestions themselves.

2. Consider Highlighting Near-Perfect Matches:

Not all results are equal — sometimes one or a few top matches are of vastly higher relevance than the remaining search results.

Implementation Suggestions —

Depending on the relevancy score, one could even experiment by labeling the result as “Recommended” or “Best Match” to further underscore that the site strongly believes this is what the user is looking for.

The highlight styling for these near-perfect matches can take the form of giving additional screen real estate, using the extra space to display a bigger thumbnail, and including additional product information. A different background color and bigger font size could even be applied.

3. Auto-Correct Misspellings:

Nobody is perfect, and the average user is certainly not a perfect writer. And they shouldn’t have to be. It’s worth noting that there are a few different types of misspellings. Users could misspell a word because they don’t know how it’s written, in which case they may replace one or more characters with similar-sounding letters (such as the “sirup vs. syrup” example), or they may combine, split, or dasherize words incorrectly (“sofatable vs. sofa table” or “dinner ware vs. dinnerware”). Another type of misspelling is from typos, where the user simply unintentionally strikes the wrong letter on the keyboard (such as the “caneras vs. cameras” example). It’s not that the user didn’t know how to spell the word; a finger simply drifted to a wrong key by accident.

Implementation Suggestions —

Ideally, this feature is intelligent, so If there is high confidence in the accuracy of a spelling correction to the user’s search query, the user is given the option to override the auto-correction.

If there aren’t any results for the misspelled query, the auto-correction notice should be altered to state this explicitly and the option to override the auto-correction should obviously be skipped, as there’s no value in sending the user to a page without results.

4. No Results Page Workarounds:

The “No Results” page is, in other words, not a problematic page in and of itself — but its implementation is hugely important and can lead to anything from a severely harmful user experience to a highly positive one.

Implementation Suggestions —

It’s likely the site simply doesn’t carry the product the user is looking for. In those instances, there are still many options that don’t leave the user hanging — such as displaying ads to sites where they can find the product or showcasing other products that the user may be interested in.

Always think of how dead-ends can be avoided. But when they do occur, make it easy for the user to recover, whether that means helping them adjust their search or nudging them towards something entirely different or even sending them off-site.

)
    Shahnawaz Patel

    Written by

    In pursuit of eliminating cognitive load through HCI

    Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
    Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
    Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade