When I changed the homepage to include a search box instead of a link, search engine use increased by 91%. The search input field should be wide enough to contain the typical query if the box is too small, the query will scroll and diminish usability. ![]() Put the search box at the top of the page, usually in the right hand corner (though the left works almost as well). ![]() ![]() On homepages, search should be a type-in field and not a link.As we've seen in recent studies, they typically scan the homepage looking for "the little box where I can type." We've long known that users scan, and the implications are clear: Users often move fast and furiously when they're looking for search. (Note that good search is not enough: in researching intranet information architecture, we found that the best designs offer mutually helpful integration between search and navigation.) Search Should be a Box Search is a big deal: the usability of the search on intranets we have tested accounted for 43% of the difference in employee productivity between intranets with high and low usability. This is why you should make search available from every page on the site you cannot predict where users will be when they decide they are lost. When they can't find a reasonable place to go next, they often turn to the site's search function. Search is also users' escape hatch when they are stuck in navigation.I just want to find the thing I'm looking for." This is why many users go straight to the homepage search function. A typical comment is: "I don't want to have to navigate this site the way they want me to. ![]() Testing situations routinely validate this.
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