[Sigia-l] Findability

[Boniface Lau]

> From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org]On
> Behalf Of Gerry McGovern
>  
[...]
> Jared Spool's work at UIE has found that some ecommerce websites are
> eliminating search,

I guess that works for a tiny site. Imagine what it would be like if
amazon.com does not support search? ;-)


> and depending solely on a clear classification/categorization
> structure.

It is one thing to be confident about one's classification scheme. But
quite another to have that scheme replaces the search functionality,
unless the site is just tiny.

Do you know of an URL?


> Other studies have found that most people search in a very simple
> way, using one of two keywords.

I have heard that too. But what happened when the search on site A
failed to show up any relevant items?

User XYZ then moved on to site B for a similar search? If that too
failed, what's next?

Unless what XYZ was searching for was not important, sooner or later
XYZ will use the advanced search. Thus, along the path of sites
visited by XYZ, some sites, let's say site N, will see XYZ using the
advanced search screen.