A little research on ecommerce search design

Context

Search is one of the most important aspects of an ecommerce website that people often underestimate when building their platforms.

I studied search functions for a long time in order to tell about the most convenient and necessary aspects in it. Burberry is one of my favorite brands and I thought it might be a good example to explain the pros and cons of search functionality on various sites.

This is a short case study that looks at some aspects of search design and results with examples from 2017 *.

Articles about developing a search form:

What Burberry Does Well

Search design

• The search should be in the upper right corner, where people expect to find it.
• Even if the search box does not follow the traditional design, it is immediately clear that it is a search bar.
• The magnifying glass image is complemented by the caption “search” So everything becomes much clearer and more accessible.

Plenty of room for a typical request

• When clicked, the search bar expands, giving users enough room for a longer query.

Displaying the number of results

• A complete list of available results is displayed. In this example, we can clearly see 30 results, which gives the user an idea of ​​how long it will take to see all of the search results.

Additional filtering and sorting

• A filter and sorting system are needed for greater search accuracy.
• Advanced search is available only after pressing Enter, which is very convenient.

“Offer advanced search as an additional option, when it makes sense, an option that users can refer to from the search results page:“ Didn t find what you were looking for? Try advanced search. “

Nielsen Norman Group

What Burberry needs to improve

Need an effective auto-hint

• Burberry offers auto-hints, which are good, but they are not accurate enough. I typed “Scar” and the first result I got was “Sandringham”.

Accuracy of the name

• The search results did not suggest any fixes for my query. I tried searching again today (July 2019) when I hit enter while writing the word “SCA” I only got one result for men.

This suggests that the work should be done according to the naming convention of the displayed products.

Roll up

I wrote this a couple of years ago, but it s still relevant today. This is a short case study that looks at some aspects of search design. It lacks all aspects, but enough to have an idea of ​​the main priority things that a designer and a brand need to think about.

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