Comments on: Browse vs. Search in Application Navigation http://tworivers.com/blog/archives/208 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:16:22 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Justin Sinclair http://tworivers.com/blog/archives/208/comment-page-1#comment-33 Justin Sinclair Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:11:15 +0000 http://tworivers.com/blog/?p=208#comment-33 As a quick technical note, a better version of the Apple "search to browse" help textbox could be implemented using the jQuery flexselect plugin - http://rmm5t.github.com/jquery-flexselect/ - and a sitemap as the data-source. The flexselect plugin is pretty cool, it does mid-word partial matches (i.e would return "George Washington" in the results for a query "hing") but has no support for stemming or synonyms *boo*. As a quick technical note, a better version of the Apple “search to browse” help textbox could be implemented using the jQuery flexselect plugin – http://rmm5t.github.com/jquery-flexselect/ – and a sitemap as the data-source.

The flexselect plugin is pretty cool, it does mid-word partial matches (i.e would return “George Washington” in the results for a query “hing”) but has no support for stemming or synonyms *boo*.

]]> By: Alan Samuels http://tworivers.com/blog/archives/208/comment-page-1#comment-32 Alan Samuels Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:13:17 +0000 http://tworivers.com/blog/?p=208#comment-32 We considered this challenge when implementing an Endeca 3rd-party package to help navigate the Fitch Ratings database of ratings, research and data http://www.fitchratings.com. Blending browse and search can be very useful when you have structured and unstructured data. When there is a clearly understood hierarchy of categories then "browse" helps direct the user through a search that may start off as free-form. We considered this challenge when implementing an Endeca 3rd-party package to help navigate the Fitch Ratings database of ratings, research and data http://www.fitchratings.com. Blending browse and search can be very useful when you have structured and unstructured data. When there is a clearly understood hierarchy of categories then “browse” helps direct the user through a search that may start off as free-form.

]]> By: Katy Gamble http://tworivers.com/blog/archives/208/comment-page-1#comment-9 Katy Gamble Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:10:03 +0000 http://tworivers.com/blog/?p=208#comment-9 I work for a large information company and have designed a prototype that can bring all of our data from 100+ applications into one search application. Really fun project! After a user logs in and we have verified which data sources they have access to, they are presented with a search text box to enter which ever keywords they wish. We also have a categorical display or a taxonomy display (a toggle between the two) that allows the user the option to browse thru the data right off the bat without doing a search. If they enter a search term, the categories/taxonomy is updated based on the search results (aka search refinement much like most shopping sites). The test users and product managers have loved the simplicity. Now it's just a matter of getting funding! We have also provided the ability to toggle their results view to a list, a map, or a timeline. I work for a large information company and have designed a prototype that can bring all of our data from 100+ applications into one search application. Really fun project!

After a user logs in and we have verified which data sources they have access to, they are presented with a search text box to enter which ever keywords they wish. We also have a categorical display or a taxonomy display (a toggle between the two) that allows the user the option to browse thru the data right off the bat without doing a search. If they enter a search term, the categories/taxonomy is updated based on the search results (aka search refinement much like most shopping sites). The test users and product managers have loved the simplicity. Now it’s just a matter of getting funding!

We have also provided the ability to toggle their results view to a list, a map, or a timeline.

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