Comments on: Who Will Own the Search Experience?

By: links for 2008-03-31 : Camille’s Conversations

links for 2008-03-31 : Camille’s Conversations — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:53:10 +0000

[...] Who Will Own the Search Experience? – GigaOM (tags: search information_literacy usability) [...]

By: ChaCha Dances with Mobile Search - GigaOM

ChaCha Dances with Mobile Search - GigaOM — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:12:33 +0000

[...] because effective searching often involves orienteering — finding information step-by-step, and using local context at each step as a guide. [...]

By: NS

NS — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:45:13 +0000

Whether a search requires teleporting or orienteering also depends on the type of search, or the goal of the search. All searches are not made equal – a search for answer to the question “In which year was Alexander the Great born?” is dramatically different (there is only one answer), from a search for the various ways to reduce weight (user would like to get a variety of answers and choose from them)…

I’m just wondering whether the brains @ Google et al shld b working on the fundamental question “why do people search?” and then take it from there – but then, I’m being presumptuous in assuming that they are not doing that already!

Nice post, hv included a link at my blog aweBsome – all that’s awesome on the weB @ http://www.eit.in/b/awe/

By: Immigrants, natives, orienteers « Jon Udell

Immigrants, natives, orienteers « Jon Udell — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:46:16 +0000

[...] the FTC website that refutes the claim, Scott reflexively uses a strategy that Anne Zelenka calls orienteering which entails the use — and critical assessment — of a plurality of information sources [...]

By: Charles Knight

Charles Knight — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 23:47:13 +0000

Just a note that Read/WriteWeb’s Top 100 Alternative Search Engines list is now located on their new network blog http://www.AltSearchEngines.com

Thanks,

Charles Knight, editor
AltSearchEngines.com

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:43:03 +0000

Orienteering works better for web beginners. If you haven't set you favorite everyday websites, you'll have to wander through many and many of them.

By: Amyloo

Amyloo — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:50:07 +0000

Another advantage of orienteering is you often find something good you didn't quite know you were looking for (something that could be said of the web in general).

By: Anne Zelenka

Anne Zelenka — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:41:11 +0000

Yes, the user should own the search experience. It's interesting to think about whether we own it more with orienteering vs. teleporting. Though teleporting is more efficient, we have more control and context during orienteering. So I think we own it more during orienteering -- and right now, we do so mostly via our own brains remembering where we've been.

As you say, Alexander, the browser is by nature user centric and is a great place for the user to own the experience of browsing. Also, storing stuff on the browser side addresses some privacy concerns.

By: Biplab

Biplab — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:11:05 +0000

As a user, I feel, the user should get the experience of teleporting as much as possible. But the search engine, with help of the browser saved information and other intuitive things, should perform orienteering. So the accuracy of the search comes as a surprise to the user. Although the user should be able to control the amount of orienteering the engine should do.

By: Alexander van Elsas

Alexander van Elsas — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:37:57 +0000

Hi Anna, good article. If I have to choose who owns the search experience, then I would hope it will be the user. Like you pointed out already, there isn’t one way of searching. Depending on the need I have as a user I might want the quick search engine answer, get advice from a good friend, search for soulmates, explore, find something I didn’t know I was looking for etc.etc. There isn’t a single service available that supports all these ways of searching. Google certainly has a lot of cards in hand to claim this search experience. But I would like to integrate the power of people, search enginges and exploration into the most obvious and most natural place for the user, the browser. The browser is by nature user centric, it is the perfect place to provide me value. For more on this see:
http://vanelsas.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-future-of-social-networks-lies-in-interaction-not-perse-in-voice/