A few months ago, Google’s “Instant” search interface launched and got great press coverage. People were very excited - they claimed we would save 1 or 2 seconds every time we searched the web with it! pooh-pooh, I thought. Now I finally understand why it’s so great…
But it’s not about making web searches faster.
It’s about making Google better for browsing.
The way I see it, there are two modes of navigating information: searching and browsing (I wrote about this before when talking about music player interfaces). When someone knows what they want but doesnt know where to find it, they need a search interface. When someone doesnt know what they want and would like some help seeing what their options are, they need a browse interface. These two modes were very different, and led to very different ideas about how products should behave. For example, Yahoo was browse-centric with all kinds of information and links on their home page; Google was search-centric with a simple keyword entry box on their home page.
Instant search is a new middle ground between search mode and browse mode. It’s not a compromise, no! It’s better than either of the old modes: it’s faster and easier than search. And it’s faster and more relevant than browsing. Yes, it’s faster — but the other two advantages (easy, relevant) are more useful. It lets you explore a huge range of options and then narrow your focus to what interests you. You start from the most broad idea of what direction you want, and then can explore different avenues quickly, and then back up and try different direction. As I’ve used it, I’ve noticed that my original search terms would not take me down the right path, so I made a quick adjustment and found what I needed. Or I was able to see different items that were helpful but not exactly what I intended to find.
I think it should have been called Google Zoom. This fits its wide range of focus between broad and narrow. And yes it’s fast, too.
(And for those interested, here’s a simple music interface that can do instant search : muss)
