In-app search

Improving search experience in the brand management platform

This project showcases an in-app search feature for a brand management platform that enables businesses to create, manage, and streamline their brand assets and guidelines in one central location. I was responsible for enhancing the search experience within the product, with the aim of improving the overall user experience and driving increased product adoption.

Defining the problem

Background and discovery

The search functionality within the product is not fully developed in terms of generating relevant results and ensuring optimal usability.
Siloes and rigidity is another problem — there is a structural disconnect between branded guidelines and asset management, resulting in an inconsistent experience and missing functionality.

In the discovery phase, we examined customer insights and conducted user research to identify and define the problems that need addressing.

Data Insights

57% of users don’t find what they are searching for.
The utilization of guideline search appears suboptimal, as only 48% of users initiating searches in the guidelines actually open a result.

Main problem areas

Users are looking for library assets in guidelines search, and guidelines search don’t include assets.
Not all content is searchable or well presented.
The search relies on exact matches and does not support auto-fill, auto-correction, or any suggestions.

Guideline search before redesign

Main goals

Provide the results from the entire brand portal in one place.
Improve the presentation of results to facilitate quick and easy identification of the right item.
Include suggestions to enhance the search experience. Improve error prevention and recovery from errors (zero results state). Support keyboard shortcuts.

Exploring solutions

Concept 1. Full screen search
Customers have the ability to personalize the search page of their guidelines according their brand style. There are more space for displaying search results, it’s previews and additional elements, such as filters.

Concept 2. Command search
Quick and easy access to the search from any view. Users can navigate using keyboard. Applying a neutral styling to the dialogue window ensures that this solution is adaptable to any brand's visual style facilitating a speedy rollout of the updated search to end-users.

Command search is particularly advantageous during user onboarding, significantly enhancing exploration and feature discoverability. This is crucial for us as we strive to boost product adoption by delivering an improved experience for novice users, therefore we decide to proceed with this concept.

Validating and iterating

It's essential to validate our hypotheses at an early stage. The iterative process identifies and addresses potential issues upfront, enhancing the user experience and contributing to an efficient development cycle.

Designing, implementing and launching

“I want to be able to find what I need no matter what type of the data I am looking for.”

We enable users to search for any type of content regardless of where the item is located – be it in guidelines or libraries.

To avoid the risks associated with the scoped search we are also providing all the results in a flat list sorted by relevance. As determined through user research, this functionality is vital for novice users who are not yet familiar with the product structure.

“I want to be able to quickly find something no matter where I am currently.”

In our research phase, we discovered that users express a preference for quick access to frequently searched items, and having a search history would expedite their tasks. Moreover, facilitating swift access to items matching user queries would enable users to bypass the search process and directly access the desired items.

“I want to be able to find something even if I don’t know exact name of the item.”

We enhance user support during searches by suggesting search options, implementing autofill, and correcting spelling errors through autocorrection. Introduce a "Did you mean?" functionality to further assist users in refining their search queries.

Results

The project garnered exceptional feedback during multiple testing sessions and presentations, paving the way for its current rollout to end-users. The ongoing commitment to discovery and solution exploration reflects our dedication to refining and optimizing the user experience, ensuring that the product aligns seamlessly with the evolving needs and preferences of our audience.