Rather than add extra features that users won’t use, I decided to simplify the design by taking some features away and streamlining others.
I moved the buttons at the top lefthand corner to right under the search bar where users can easily see them. I also made the preferences banner larger and would make it a brighter color so its easier to see. I didn’t think it was worth compromising the simplicity of the design to move it to a more prominent position though, as a few years working in tech support has shown me that few users take advantage of these options, or even notice them. Users really just want to whatever it is they came to do, not mess around with options.
Some of the changes we wanted to make was to either have the search be more text based or to have full screen searches. In this design the user would be able to choose the amount of each they want to see, by sliding the middle bar all the way to the left, the text links would appear very small while the image or webpage would be almost full screen. By sliding it the other way the image would be very small while text results would appear much like Google’s are. I kept the switching arrows for browsing through pages.
I think this system is a lot more intuitive and simple than choosing specific options. Also, it gives a lot of flexibility as far as picture size, text size and what the user wants and can easily be switched between various options.
November 9, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I like that you made the layout more simple, something any user would like. The ability to change the picture and text size is also very important. That flexibility allows the user to customize the website very easily, without having to mess with the preferences.
As for improvement, perhaps the size of the links and the image could be resized separately (instead of being directly connected). By this I mean a user could resize the image to be large, and the link to also be large, instead of a small link and a large picture.
November 10, 2008 at 9:35 am
Sincerely and utterly positive (from the heart):
I like the idea of the page being highly dynamic/flexible. The fact that the end-user can stretch the view of what they wish to see (beit result or search).
Also, simplicity is always a plus (unless you’re Adobe).
Clearly insightful:
Did I say that simplicity is /always/ a good thing? I applaud your efforts at making a Searchme.com more simplistic, but I do believe that it needs to be applied to other aspects of the site at hand. I feel that the main page may not be as intuitive as it should be. Maybe a few more “hold my hand” pointers in regards to how one should utilize Searchme.com and how one may change their preferences. Maybe make use of the large and obnoxious bubble that is visible when you first visit Searchme.com that states that there is a searchme: toolbar available, and tweak that to notify the end-user that they may do “such-and-such” with their preferences.
November 10, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I do like the approach that you have taken in solving the problems we came up with in the needs and requirement document. By giving the user a full screen view and still easy to read text descriptions is the best of both worlds.
It is very much like using google maps. By having an interactive map the user is allowed a lot of viewing freedom. At the same time the user has the option of browsing text listing of addresses or businesses near by. I like how you have combined these ideas into your design.
November 10, 2008 at 7:07 pm
You were the third comment, Billy. Fail. Just letting you know.