In search of - Better search for content and news sites

The standard search experience for products on an eCommerce site is by now well formed. Customers expect fast and precise control over their search.

The key principles of a good search experience are:

• Show user all available categories she can filter on down left side
• Start off with categories open showing sub options
• As user makes filter selections, refresh target item set
• Make it easy to remove one or all filters applied

Search on eCommerce Sites

By contrast, when it comes to searching content sites, there is no faceted or complex search of any kind. We're mostly left with the old fashioned single search field.

Search on Content and News Sites

So the question is: Why wouldn't the same eCommerce style search work equally well for content sites? Taking the simple example of WordPress, with its information model of authors, categories and tags, why couldn't we have standard search functionality like this:

In one simple viewshed the user would instantly see the total information map of the site and what options are available. Selections would immediately reveal the quantity of relevant content that might be of interest. Without this, I honestly don't know how you can do a compound multi select search on WP.com today: "All posts by Joe Smith in News last week tagged with New York and Bicycles."

The same fast and powerful eCommerce style search we use everyday to find the products we want could work just as well on news and content sites.

Seems like a no brainer.

Win Goodbody | @WinGoodbody | www.wingoodbody.com