[Sigia-l] Findability (classification and search)

[Gerry McGovern]

>From: "Boniface Lau" <boniface_lau at compuserve.com>
>[...]
> > 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?

One of the websites, I believe is gap.com. I can't *find* the report right 
now, but I believe UIE (www.uie.com) did a report on apparel retailers, and 
found that a number didn't offer search at all. UIE has done some very good 
work on search. Here's one article:
http://www.uie.com/searchar.htm



> > 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.

I've seen studies that indicate that advanced search is used very rarely. 
Even with basic search, only 1 in 20, go beyond the first page of search 
results, according to a Mondosoft study (July 2002).

According to a study published by IEEE/CS Computer in March 2002:
Web searches "continue to be simple in structure with a minority of queries 
incorporating advanced search features. Many queries that do contain 
advanced searching operators are mistakes, such as non-capitalized Boolean 
operators."

Good classification is vital for a whole range of reasons, in my opinion. 
One of them is that a lot of the time people aren't quite sure what they 
need. Here's a story to illustrate the point.

Some time ago, the driver software for my Iomega zip drive got corrupted. I 
went to the Iomega website and quickly found the driver software I wanted. 
It was free to download. Beside the download link was information on 
QuikSync. This software allowed me to point folders on my hard drive to my 
zip drive. Anytime you updated stuff in these folders, it was automatically 
backed up on the zip.

Now, I was always forgetting to back up, and a few times I paid a very 
heavy price. This QuikSync software was like magic to me. It cost USD40, 
but I paid it more than willingly.

I went to Iomega wanting a free driver, but I really needed QuikSync. I 
just didn't know I needed it, because I didn't know it existed. This 
example illustrates where information architecture (IA) can become a very 
effective tool of marketing.

I believe that a core objective of IA is to place content in context. IA 
should help answer the question: What is this piece of content related to?

Gerry McGovern

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