Search Box Design, Things To Keep In Mind
Search boxes are very important elements in the web: if customers can not find what they are looking for they will not be able to buy it. Reality is as simple as that.
Designing a good search box is not that easy, things to keep in mind:
1. Position of the search box
2. Wording
3. Behavior
4. How the search button should look like
Here I put together some examples of search box designs:
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The Amazon.com design has several things to point out: 1. The search box is in a prominent position. This is important in huge sites like Amazon where the people use the search as navigation option. 2. By default the search works website-wide. 3. Users can search in specific categories. 4. "GO" as search button. I would say that something different from "Go" or "Search" would not work properly.
The Amazon search in detail:
Safari Books Online has a, maybe, too complicated search box. It’s nice that they placed a link to the advanced search page but, then, why giving so many options to the basic search box design?
Giving so many options in the "simple" search could confuse users… if they are not able to find products they would not be able to buy them…
Google is the queen of the search boxes. Simplicity at its best. Remember that Google was the first making the search user friendly? (and accurate).
Use the button to help users The Facebook friend search box has a dangerous design, it’s not standard as it lacks of a seach button. I would not recommend to think that all users would understand things in such an intuitive way as designers or programmers could do.
Ebay labels the search button "Search". No chance to confuse users.
Notice the button names at Yahoo, they clearly tell users where they are searching; the web or images.
If you place a button try to make it look like a button. Etsy.com has a flat button that does not really look like a button. If possible, make buttons 3D and more users will be able to understand your interface.
Predict entries Part of usability is the behavior of a feature. The Google Docs search box helps users as they get suggested results while typing.
Search Box Position I don’t know the reason why but placing the search box on the upper right corner seems to be the standard. Users look for it there.
Clean Air Gardening places a small search box on the left corner. Placing the search box under the the logo could make it more visible but it is dangerous to make it so small and to place it on a non standard position.
Proper wording Best Buy use some extra wording to help customers. Sometimes using "Search for" instead of just "Search" could make the search box even more meaningful. Notice how the "in" (all categories) could add even more benefit to users.
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This examples are taken from the web, I’m not trying to attack anybody. Keep in mind that a bad design could be the result of the lack of money or time.
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