User:JDrewniak (WMF)/notes/SERP Design Research

This page collects existing research regarding Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). The purpose of this page is to catalog existing UI patterns, gain an understanding of user expectations & UX on these type of pages, and inform our own design decisions.

The Search Box
A text input field accompanied by a submit button. Search boxes are usually made up of at least two elements (input + button) but they are conceptually treated as a single unit, and can provide multiple features.

Search Box Features

 * search suggestions
 * search query autocompletion
 * Language picker / Primary Search Filter
 * Placeholder text

Search queries themselves often contain special search operators that act as filtering mechanisms.

Search Box Best Practices
...

Search Control
Most search engines offer a way to adjust or filter search results, beyond the query text iteself. The ability to filter, sort or otherwise adjust the search results is generally called faceted search, but to avoid jargony words, this function will be referred as search control.

Search Control Mechanisms
Search control mechanism vary widely across search engines.
 * "Sort by" options
 * Layout options (grid vs. list)
 * Links to "search verticals" (search verticals are specific content categories like images/vidoes/news/books etc)
 * Filter bar (top-bar or side-bar)
 * Advanced search options

Search Control Best Practices
Improve sort-by quality by narrowing results: http://kalmstrom.com/Tips/SharePoint-Online-Course/SharePoint-Search-Vertical.htm

sidebars vs topbars http://www.uxforthemasses.com/filter-bars/

Parallel filters vs drilldown filters http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2009/09/best-practices-for-designing-faceted-search-filters.php

Search Results Listing
Search results are in essence a simple list, ranked by relevance. However, the introduction of rich snippets in recent years has given SERP page a new... well, richness. Google's own rich snippet presentation has evolved from displaying rich snippets on the left, to presenting them inline, this was called blended search. The position of the rich snippets within the blended search results is part of Google's secret sauce.

https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/universal-search-best-answer-is-still.html

https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/behind-scenes-with-universal-search.html

Search Result (single)
The meat of it all. Search result entries have evolved from a simple title & description to something far more useful. Search result entries now contain lots of metadata about the listing.
 * Title (link to result)
 * Description
 * Thumbnail
 * Star rating (measure of quality)
 * Publication date

Presenting Structured Data
Wolfram Alpha has a template for each seperate peice of structured data: image, list, table, chart, map. Google's info boxes are simpler in their design and provide a unified summary of important facts.

A Catalog of Google Rich Snippets

 * Weather
 * Local Businesses (Hotels / Restaurants)
 * Dictionary Definitions
 * Large content snippet (used for recipes & how-to queries)
 * Flight Times & arrival
 * Calculator & conversion
 * Translations
 * Film & TV shows
 * Products
 * Driving Directions
 * Image Gallery
 * News Results
 * Large Related Searches
 * Video Gallery
 * Social media (twitter) exerpt
 * Instant Answers ("how tall is mount everest?")