Doors are our common language for passing into a place for commerce, socialization or pleasure. Passing from one experience to the next. Doors are our refuge at the end of a long day, they are the start to every work day, every meeting, every meal. Search is the closest thing we have to a front door, yet it is so often forgotten in the design of user experiences. Our digital world is becoming more and more like a real place, where we spend our time rather than a tool that we use and put down. This short talk for Search Love Boston 2013 covers some ways in which user experience and search professionals can better work together to make the internet a better place.

1. by: Abby CoverT
Searchis the front door to
User Experience

3. everything is complex
I intend to because I believe
facilitate understanding
organize meaning,
create clarity and
establish truth
put the what
before the how
make the unclear clear
information
architect
understanding is
always good but it is
equally important to
not understand
clarity is a
prerequisite of truth
I am an
by: Abby Covert & Dan Klyn
architecture frames
problems, design solves
them
support goals, makers
and users
iamania.com

4. everything is complex
I intend to because I believe
facilitate understanding
organize meaning,
create clarity and
establish truth
put the what
before the how
make the unclear clear
information
architect
understanding is
always good but it is
equally important to
not understand
clarity is a
prerequisite of truth
I am an
by: Abby Covert & Dan Klyn
architecture frames
problems, design solves
them
support goals, makers
and users
Today’s
Objective
iamania.com

13. The human brain is marvelously adaptable, that with some
experience one can learn to pick ones way through the most
disordered or featureless surroundings…
There is some value in mystification, labyrinth or surprise
in the environment…. first there must be no danger of losing
basic form or orientation, of never coming out.
The surprise must occur in the overall framework: the
confusion must be small regions in a visible whole.
Furthermore, the labyrinth or mystery must in itself have
some form that can be explored and in time be apprehended.
Complete chaos without hint is never pleasurable.
(i.e. Even complete chaos can be pleasurable if there are hints along the way and resolution at the end)

15. "...we might say
that almost
anyone can, if
attentive, learn to
navigate Jersey
City, but only at
the cost of some
effort and
uncertainty."

16. There is no
Place like
Home
UX Lesson #1:

17. There is no
Place like
Home
UX Lesson #1:

18. In search:
every page
is a potential
front door

19. There are Simple Anti patterns
to avoid to increase
user satisfaction
UX Lesson #2:

20. Doors
to Avoid

21. “There is
no way
through
here...”

22. Brick walls
online
• Auto Searches in SEM placement that lead to no inventory
• Errors and Deadlinks
• Inner Pages with little context or primary navigation

25. Avoiding brick
Walls
• Always ask yourself, what is the next click. If it is not on the site, it
is probably a back button.
• Avoid SEM placement of queries likely to be null

26. “What the
%$#! is
this”

27. Unmatched
Expectations
online
• Sneaky Ad Executions to task based queries
• Confusing “on-boarding” / welcome materials
• When content doesn’t match task context

30. Avoiding $%#!
reactions
• Don’t over sell the experience in the ad
• Understand context, don’t promise what you don’t have
• Make sure conversion is well explained and easy to access

31. “Danger
Will
Robinson”

32. Experiences people
flee from online
• Inappropriate design
• Ad overload or interruption
• Auto playing of media without request

36. Fight their Flight
• Avoid interruption except when it gets the user something they
already want
• Assure there is a hint of what they came looking for in a prominent
place
• Avoid auto play media from paid search unless that expectation is
in the ad copy

37. “Password,
Dude?”

38. Rude Bouncers
online
• Logins with no way in for new folks
• Content locked out to outsiders but teased without ability to get
access
• Unexplained pay walls or app download requests

41. Don’t be rude...
• Explain the benefits of membership without commitment
• Provide a clear scent that signing up will get them what they came for
• Don’t assume they want to be a member just because they landed here

42. “OMG this is
just a hall
of badly
labeled
doors”

43. Experiences people
feel lost in
• Indexes and Sitemap pages
• Content crammed landing pages
• Content that is lower priority than ad space

46. How to organize a
hallway
• Develop better labels and hierarchy through qualitative and
quantitative research into the ontology that people use to describe
things
• Provide clear way-finding devices to match user context
• Measure, tweak, measure, tweak
• Don’t overload them on choice! Thats what Google is for!

47. Search Result = Experience
UX Lesson #3:

48. 5 Ways
UX & Search
Can work
Together

49. 1. Share your
research

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c o n s e ct e tu r a d i p is ci n g e li t .
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varius tempor. Integer congue
feugiat malesuada. Maecenas con
2. Kill Lorem ipsum. Aliquam
diam elit, tempor ut pellentesque
vel, posue re a lectus. Nulla
rutrum tortor non dui scelerisque
dictum. Curabitur dictum, mauris
quis bibendum lacinia, sapien leo
convallis lorem, id dapibus nibh

51. 3. Get to know
your writers

52. Get to know your
writers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

53. 4. Sell the Process Together
Alignment
Goal Setting
Research
Personas
Collaborative Design
Experience Brief
ScopinG + Priority
Roadmaping
Mapping
Watch + Listen
Awareness, acquisition,
conversion, competition,
distraction, action and
loyalty are all discussed
strategically and tactically.
Exercises designed to help
develop broad and specific
goals for the experience
being designed.
Organizational, user and
competitive research
methodologies as prescribed
for the experience and
audience being planned for
In order to provide a single
reference point for the team
to understand who is being
designed for and why,
personas are created and
agreed to.
Generate ideas about the
experience that could be
provided. This session can be
designed for business
stakeholders, designers,
developers, even potential or
current users.
A one page explanation of the
ideas and recommendations
collected and crafted to date.
Taking into account research,
collaborative design and goal
setting.
A workshop where all the ideas
from the collaborative design
session and elsewhere start on
the table for discussion and
end with a distinct go/no as
well as a priority.
A document that clearly
outlines the priorities and
efforts behind each phase of
an experience being
developed. Cross channel
implications are also included
to document digital marketing
and content strategy needs.
Maps and simple pictures
that further convey the
material in more detail to
the audience intended.
A combination of analytics, user
testing and listening is used to
measure the experience being
delivered against goals.
Abby the IA's
Process

54. 4. Sell the Process Together
Alignment
Goal Setting
Research
Personas
Collaborative Design
Experience Brief
ScopinG + Priority
Roadmaping
Mapping
Watch + Listen
Awareness, acquisition,
conversion, competition,
distraction, action and
loyalty are all discussed
strategically and tactically.
Exercises designed to help
develop broad and specific
goals for the experience
being designed.
Organizational, user and
competitive research
methodologies as prescribed
for the experience and
audience being planned for
In order to provide a single
reference point for the team
to understand who is being
designed for and why,
personas are created and
agreed to.
Generate ideas about the
experience that could be
provided. This session can be
designed for business
stakeholders, designers,
developers, even potential or
current users.
A one page explanation of the
ideas and recommendations
collected and crafted to date.
Taking into account research,
collaborative design and goal
setting.
A workshop where all the ideas
from the collaborative design
session and elsewhere start on
the table for discussion and
end with a distinct go/no as
well as a priority.
A document that clearly
outlines the priorities and
efforts behind each phase of
an experience being
developed. Cross channel
implications are also included
to document digital marketing
and content strategy needs.
Maps and simple pictures
that further convey the
material in more detail to
the audience intended.
A combination of analytics, user
testing and listening is used to
measure the experience being
delivered against goals.
Abby the IA's
Process
Hint:
THis is
where I
need you

55. 5. Click the
$%#!ing links

56. Quality Assurance
is a Group Sport
If something
feels off, it
probably is

57. Key Take Aways
• We must understand search and result together
to best meet user expectations.
• To avoid common bad door-opening experiences,
walk in the shoes of your users.
• When a door opening seems off, then it likely is.
See something, say something.

58. Thanks!
abbycovert.com
@abby_The_IA