[Sigia-l] search tool as platform?

[Eric Scheid]

I see LinkedIn [1] has added a new tab to their main navigation: "Find
Services". This fits in rather well with their "Find People", "Find Jobs"
part of their main nav.

Going to that tab shows a page which has links to many different service
categories ... but a close examination of those links shows they are simply
pre-packaged complex searches of their "find people" search tool.

They haven't actually built a whole new section, but instead took what they
already had and built a new interface onto it. You could use the original
"find people" search tool, just with a bit more typing.

I find this interesting. Not only does it introduce the idea using LinkedIn
for finding services (instead of just people), but the pre-packaged searches
in those links are quite complex and long and thus demonstrates the power of
complex searches (lots of OR and parentheses).

I also find it interesting on an IA level too. Has anyone seen similar
re-purposing of a site's search tool as a short cut to building out new
facets of a site or for serving a distinct audience group?

e.

[1] https://linkedin.com/ ... you need to sign up to fully explore