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Why Your SharePoint 2010 Search Sucks

by Michal Pisarek on Aug 21, 2011

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Why your search in SharePoint may suck and how you can improve it

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Why your search in SharePoint may suck and how you can improve it

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Why don’t we do this as a tranistion slide with a timeline
Then I got into SharePoint
In every business case a large amount of the cost justification is on the improvement of searchFrequently metrics from the IDC Time lost with in effective searching are used for justificationCreate a business case littered with platitudes such as the aboveSlide with business case and sayings”“Google like search experience”“improved search”“Intuitive search experience”“Increased find ability”“Turn it on and search will improve”
Why doesn’t search go through the same rigorous process as other capabilities in SharePoint?Search will be the first thing that a user will do after they view the homepage..guaranteedThe question is why is so little effort put into implementing search…The truth most people think that search is a magically going to determine what users expect and present them with the correct resultsHowever without knowing what your users want and then tuning search to make a difference this will not happen
Search is not like a light switch where it is either off or on its more like this
Report is called “How To Be A Hero: Develop An Enterprise Search Strategy”Consumer search is dead simple to use. Internet search requires little or no formal training. The wide, white boxes, simple tabbed interfaces, and generously sized results set text contribute to an experience that makes both novice and expert searchers productive information seekers. It’s extremely fast. On average, Internet searchers execute five separate queries per session — adjusting the keywords they use until the results look acceptable.2 This fact alone is enough to understand why a search inside an enterprise that takes minutes to execute is utterly unacceptable to most workers. Yet some search functions embedded in applications still suffer from poor performance.3It’s relevant. Relevance is an extremely complex topic, but from an end user’s perspective, it’s a near magical experience finding almost precisely what you are looking for on a public search site. But relevance inside enterprises tends to be more contextual — associated with specific tasks or processes — than general-purpose Internet search
In order to find the context that you need in your organization to give you value able search results you must first understand your organizationDon’t assume that you know what your users expect when they search for something because they dont
Like anything else in SharePoint search is driven by requirements from usersYou need to craft your search solution around what your users needWithout clear and effective requirements you cannot create a search solution that is viable
There are many ways to gather requirements, use any of the techniques described aboveI love user stories, games and prototyping
Requirements drive all the decisions around searchConfiguration:How far can you push the SP search before custom dev is neededPhysical:How much RAM, CPU, disk spaceLogical:Security segregation A real time research organization has vastly different infrastructure needs than a government organization
Measuring Search SuccessIt CAN be measured, read ‘How to Measure Anything’ by Douglas HubbardCommon Measurements:Find John’s phone number from accountingWhat was the latest news item that was postedHow many policies have been updated in the last month?If you have a measurement then you also have a tangible goal and process that you can followIt also allows you to justify the business case
Subtle interplay between metadata and searchFor many organizations its not search that is the problem it’s the lack of metadataDon’t be fooled into thinking that SharePoint is going to understand your business with the default set of metadataAll search is is a way to expose metadata in a way that makes in queryable by users
The only thing hotter in SharePoint right now apart from Governance is MetadataIt provides the context that your users will need to be able to wade through the mountains of content you will make SharePoint indexWithout metadata then you have full text search which is not greatIt will help them determine if they type in policy:What department does it belong to?When was it updated?Which topic does it relate to?Like birds and the bees without metadata your search will failNumber one cause of failureVital as metadata will provide the context for your users to be able to determine if the content is applicable to them
Metadata drives search that’s why there is a separate database for itYou need additional metadata so that all of the good stuff in search can workThat is just for search but for information architecture its even more important
People say that they don’t have time to create a taxonomy
I work with great IA’s in Habanero, you know a good IA when during the process most of the question they ask cannot be answeredA little is a lot with a taxonomyHow about starting with 2 additional fields:Topic (if this works)DepartmentType of Content (above and beyond Word, Powerpoint)If you leverage Content Types you can also expose this in search
One of the areas that so much can be done with out of the box configurationSearch is the closest of the dream that SharePoint provides of simple configuration for huge tangible benefitsSo many people don’t understand how many simple tweaks can be made to provide real business valueIf you implement SharePoint you should know these configuration optionsHowever all these options need a vision and requirements, to implement them is childs play as opposed to other SharePoint features
Search for my mind is one of the areas that you don’t need to be a SP genius to get valueWith some simple OOTB configuration you can get some super valueHowever you will need:RequirementsMetadata and Information ArchitectureA vision for your search
Partiton the content for a smaller and more targetted subset of resultsYou should always have more than the two default scopes that are providedAt least provide your users with a document only scope that they can useIf your organization works on a financial year basis then create an archived scopeSome suggestions for other scopes are:NewsDocumentsArchived Content
People always ask ‘How does the search algorithm work’ like the think they would like to write their ownBest bets allow you to essentially write your own algorithm!Inject your own results into search by passing whatsharepoint doesThere should at least be 50 best bets for each and every organizationHuge Value, Low effort againTypical Examples:Department NamesVerbsBusiness TermsAcronyms
My refiner articles account for about 30% of traffic on my blogThe most visible and well received capability in SharePointExtremely powerful:In what you can doIn the value provide to end usersExtremely configurable:Used not for search but for a site directoryEssentially can do away with advanced searchAll metadata drivenHence my rant before about metadata
Counts without FAST?Yes up to 500 of the first items in the result setControl order?Yes you can by defining your own refinersControl which refiners appear?Yes you can specify your ownControl how many hits before a refinerappears?Yes the metadata threshold on each refiner can control this Use 1 to make it always appearView more refiners?Yes by default there is 6 but yon can have as many as you likeCreate customized ranges?
Consume external search resources without this being part of your indexIf you are a research organization this can greatly save timeThere are lots available FLD files that you can download and install easily
Severely Underused yet very easy to doGoogle has been doing this for years, different types of content has different results displayedAmazingly even public web sites have the same crappy SharePoint search displaySome really powerful ways to do some simple thingsLinking custom scopes to custom results pages is a super powerful way Link to FolderRatings and Additional Metdata
Replacement SetsSubstitute search terms for other search termsIn the example: HR, Human Resources, Employee Services will all be changed to people servicesGreat for enforcing common nomecultureExpansion SetsSpecify synonyms that will also be searched forIn the example anytime some searches for Author the other two will also be searched forGreat for recall and synonyms in an organization
Avoid the empty bar syndrome by prepopulatingSP will add their own daily with a timer job fileGreat way to encourage adoption when rolling search outNeed to also keep this trimmed, can disable the timer jobSeachsuggestons appear when a user is typing in a search query
Less used now that we have refinements but still valuableLots of configuration available
Don’t think that FAST will solve your search issuesWithout Requirements and an even broader knowledge of configuration and search theory it will give you nothingIf a company wants to buy FAST I tell them that the price tag is that of FAST plus a .5 FTE to make use of it
There is a million definitions of governance so we will make this quickYes you do need governace for search, why:So you don’t get crap
What is the vision for search?How will it be usedDifferent visions: Encouraging innovation vs saving timeEncouraging InnovationTying people to search keywordsShowing related contentBrining in federated results from other locationsSaving TimeLatest updated documentsSpecific resultsHighly structured results with metadata boostBest BetsWhat is the communication plan around search?How wi
Is it really necessary to have content that is accessed once per year in the indexWill this content provide value to usersUse the 80/20 rule everything else can go elsewhereJust because you can doesn’t mean you should
Think of the All Scopes as the holy grailEverything else can go in another scopeCommon scenarios:Limit by date -> This years content sits in the index, everything else goes into another scopeLimit by value -> The stuff not valuable is not in there
Don’t assume that because I can type in a word and press enter that I know how to searchIntuitive does mean that people will adopt itUsers have little patience when it comes to search because of their high expectations
TrainingPeople often say 'It should be so easy to use that users will not require training"This is not the case especially with specific sharepoint stuff like scopes and refinersDo not let your IT staff write training it will make no sense to end usersThey say that google is easy to use and now i have a great analogyGoogle search to sharepoint search is like Facebook to Google+Conceptually both are the samehowever there are slight differences to make it powerfulHow many people are on G+? How many of you needed to look at a tutorial, some help or general information about how it works?But why? It is so easy it does not require training! Its made by an organisation that value UEWhat ever you call it there needs to be an area where users can find out informationsometimes compulsary training is teh way to go, otherwise it can be easy to find help which should be in the governance plan
Break search training up into levelsBasic search: Searching, Scopes and RefinementsAdvanced search: Desktop Federation, search alerts and queries
Videos are coolTraining search can be a great way to engage usersManuals can also be usedeGreat as part of a roll out and adoption strategyA wheres Waldo type of thing
Allows users to rate search results and provide suggestionExcellent way to gather search experiences from a wide number of usersA by product seems to be that search is automatically improved simply because users have a voiceSuper simple to do, democratize your search
It’s not easy, that’s why your search probably sucksBut with requirements, knowledge of configuration, metadata, training, control scopes and contstant improvement there is a way

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SurfRay at SurfRay Tags sharepoint search 7 months ago
Chris Howell , Acting Technical Specialist at WorkCover NSW 9 months ago
Sari Länsiluoto 9 months ago

Why Your SharePoint 2010 Search Sucks — Presentation Transcript

Welcome to SharePoint Saturday—The Conference
Why Your SharePoint Search SucksFRI-S2B-114
Michal Pisarek
Habanero Consulting Group
Welcome to SharePoint Saturday—The Conference
Thank you for being a part of the first SharePoint Saturday conference
Please turn off all electronic devices or set them to vibrate.
If you must take a phone call, please do so in the hall so as not to disturb others.
Open wireless access is available at SSID: SPSTC2011
Feel free to “tweet and blog” during the session
Thanks to our Diamond and Platinum Sponsors:
Introduction Slide 1
Born in Poland
Introduction 2
But grew up in Australia
Went To University
Graduated with computer science
Started a normal job
Quit it all, went around the world, landed in vancovuer
Need Habanero Picture Now
Got into SharePoint
Started my Blog
Became a MVP
Now I am here!
Get in Touch
michal.pisarek@gmail.com
Why does your SharePoint search suck?
The Business Case
The Business Case for Search
“Improved Search Experience”
“Google Like Search”
“Intuitive Search”
“Increased Findability”
On or off switch
Why search matters
User Expectations
Simple
Fast
Relevant
Elicit Requirements
Leverage Metadata
Know and leverage search capabilities
Govern your search
Train Users
Constantly Refine and Improve
Without requirements and involving end users your search will suck
SearchRequirements
Search Requirements
You get what you measure
Without effective, clear and concise metadata your search will suck
Metadata provides context
Metadata is how users will understand search
Scopes
Advanced Search
Sorting
People Matches
Refinements
Results Display
Creating a taxonomy
Without utilizing the many configuration options that SharePoint provides you your search will suck
Value vs Effort
Effort vs Value
in search
Custom Scopes
Metadata
Content Type
Content Source
Content Class
People
Site
Links
Contacts
Announcements
Discussions
Tasks
Metadata or Content Source Driven
Partition Content for improved results
Best Bets and Keywords
Inject your own search intelligence
Applicable to any organization
Easily Configurable
Refiners
Super Powerful!
Amazingly Configurable
Metadata driven
Category Definitions
Refinement Web Part Options
Search Federation
Consume External Results
Custom Results Pages
Custom Results Pages
Add Ratings
View Folder
Customize results for different content
Images blatantly stolen from Corey Roth, Matthew McDermott and Todd Carter
Thesaurus File
Expansion Sets
- Synonyms
- Conceptual similarities
Replacement Sets
- Organizational Name Changes
- Title Changes
- Slang (Crikey)
- Acronyms
Search Suggestions
SharePoint will automatically add suggestions
Pre-populate before launch
Can add your own easily
Advanced Search
Keep or Remove Options
For the love of God remove the languages you don’t use!!!!
Keep or Remove Options
Add additional metadata
What about FAST?
Search
Governance
Search Governance
Questions
The Holy Grail – All Sites
The All Sites scope is the Holy Grail
Nothing gets in it unless it has been proved to provide value
“Keep the ‘All Sites’ scope sacred, do not tarnish it with filth, honor it and it will be good to you”
Without training your users your search will suck
Search Training
Training Tips
Improving Search: A Neverending story
Make it a journey
Dedicate time to improving
your search
Consider a dedicated search administrator (especially for FAST)
Consult your users
User Feedback
Search Reporting
Admin Reports
Analytics
Elicit Requirements
Leverage Metadata
Know and leverage search capabilities
Govern your search
Train Users
Constantly Refine and Improve
Questions?
Thanks to Our Other Sponsors!
Thanks to our Sponsors
Session Evaluation
Please complete and turn in your Session Evaluation Form so we can improve future events. Survey can be filled out at:
http://app.fluidsurveys.com/surveys/spstc2011-
and add the Session number to the URL
Presenter: ______________________
Session Name: ______________________
Session No.: ______________________

Why Your SharePoint 2010 Search Sucks

by Michal Pisarek on Aug 21, 2011

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Why Your SharePoint 2010 Search Sucks — Presentation Transcript