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I think it's worth talking about a couple downsides of a search-based interface: Speed: Search-based puts a floor on how fast an interaction can be. "Button
by luhn 5y ago
I think it's worth talking about a couple downsides of a search-based interface:
Speed: Search-based puts a floor on how fast an interaction can be. "Button Syndrome" interfaces are a slow "hunt and peck" for new users, but experienced users can use them extremely fast, building up muscle memory so they don't even need to consciously think about the action they're taking. Imagine piloting an F35 with a search-based interface.
Discoverability: Buttons make it explicit what functionality is offered by the product... somewhat. Users may not know exactly what a button does, but they can make an educated guess based on labeling and context, and it gives them a jumping off point to experiment with it or find it in the documentation. With search-base interfaces, there's no natural way for a user to discover functionality they aren't aware of. Worse, a user may remember a function exists but forget the terminology, flailing in the search box guessing different terms.
This is not to say search-based interfaces are bad. There are mitigations to the downsides (the article mentions a few, like search suggestions), plenty of upsides to go along with it, and let's not pretend that button-based interfaces are all sunshine and rainbows. I only mean to say that these are things that should be considered.
I think the broader takeaway of the article is: Always be thinking holistically. It's important to consider how your users interact with your product as a whole, not just the individual features. Also important to consider how different users of varying experience with the product and the domain will feel with the UI—Often features for "power users" come at the expense of new users or vice versa.
- autoexec 5y agoI'd add data collection/privacy concerns that list too. "search suggestions" seem great until you see that often every letter you type is being sent over the wire for analytics and to mine for personal info to sell to 3rd parties. The site even mentions how useful it is for them to see what people are searching for. I don't know anyone who hasn't ever typed or pasted data somewhere they didn't mean to and it's painfully easy for sensitive data to get leaked this way. That concern won't apply everywhere, but it's worth keeping in mind. Even when my interactions with a simple menu are recorded (for analytics/profit) and reported the amount of data they get is at least limited.
- ddingus 5y agoMy favorite compromise is a search that takes a user right to the button, and or can initiate whatever it is. Each search is an opportunity to build experience needed to use search less. The buttons are there for those who want to run fast and or efficiently. Doing that well is a lot of work, but it also delivers high value. Going search only can be super lean, which has to be compelling. Everything costs something though, and the cost here is no user becomes adept. There is a permanently fairly high Ccost of interaction.
- hrishi 5y agoThanks for this! We're definitely working it into our system. It's always good to have multiple paths when possible, so a menu that connects to search and backwards might be quite useful to introduce users to features, but tie in muscle memory once they are used to it.
- KennyBlanken 5y ago> My favorite compromise is a search that takes a user right to the button, and or can initiate whatever it is. This is how MacOS X's help menu search box has worked for over a decade, and it's brilliant. Type in a search and it shows you every menu item that matches, and rolling down the list shows you live where each menu item is. I wish Spotlight search was similar - showing paths more readily, and making it easier to open the folder that contains the item that you want to look at.
- jffry 5y agoI don't know how you're supposed to discover this, but highlighting a file result in Spotlight and holding the Command key will show you where it is, and Command+Enter will open the parent directory in Finder with the file highlighted
- ddingus 5y agoThat's the problem. Not very discoverable, but pretty efficient for those in the know.
- Kye 5y agoWhy not both? Reaper has actions you can search for, but you can also put them in custom toolbars. I've been getting into Reaktor lately. It's like a virtual modular thing, but ranges from low-level (programming DSP) to high (playing instruments or plugging effects together). The main way to find things to add when patching stuff together is via search. You can create macros, basically little containers with inputs and outputs, and pull them into new projects and wire stuff into them. I would not be surprised if newer fighter interfaces are already customized for the pilot in this way.