Designing Search: UX Strategies for eCommerce Success

Introduction

WITH ALL THE BOOKS on search and finding, why do you need yet another one? Because search is one of the oldest, most fundamental, yet challenging and rapidly evolving problems facing humanity today. This book focuses on one specific application of search: ecommerce search—whether on the Web, smartphones, or tablet devices such as the iPad. Rather than covering larger questions involving frameworks and search-related theories, I've decided to focus on helping you improve your ecommerce search user experience in direct and measurable ways. You learn all about the most effective design patterns and tips which can cause your customers to buy more, leave your store happier, and tell their friends and social networks about the positive experience they had using your site or mobile app.

Some of the design approaches introduced in this book have earned their reputation through repeated successful application. Others are novel applications of fundamental design principles—or new design ideas just waiting for their opportunity. Both the time-tested design patterns, and the new design ideas flow directly from a rich source: the hundreds of lab studies and field observations I've carried out over the years. In short, I've written this book for UX designers, engineers, and product managers who are ready to take their ecommerce search user interface to the next level and win in the marketplace.

I hope this book inspires you to look beyond the obvious, have fun designing innovative ...