Here are my thoughts on the feature from a usability (speed, ease of use)
perspective.
Compare having an Urban Dictionary search ("slang") in both browser and
del.icio.us bookmarks:
1. In the browser (Firefox), you would type CTRL+L, "slang w00t";
2. In del.icio.us, you would either:
1. Navigate to Del, go to a certain tag or system:shortcuts,
locate the (overly sized!) input box, click on it and type "w00t";
2. Navigate to Del, click on the search box, type "!slang w00t"
and wait too much;
3. Type CTRL+K (focus on the browser search bar) and write
"!slang w00t", only to realize del.icio.us wasn't selected as a
search engine and that you are now searching Google or something else; or
4. Click on the search bar icon to select del.icio.us as a
search engine from a drop-down menu, write "!slang w00t" and
wait too much.
Having laid out these options, I'm now proceeding to the obvious
conclusions:
- Inline search form in item listings is big, obtrusive and certainly
the slowest way to access your keyword searches.
- Almost all approaches to keyword searching with Del require a mouse,
except for the scenario when Del is already selected as the engine in the
browser (few people know about F4 / Alt+up/down, really).
- Keyword searching via Del from the browser search bar currently
seems to be the fastest method (not counting native browser searching),
therefore likely to be preferred by users.
My suggestions are:
- Don't show the search form in item listings by default. Instead,
hide it, visually indicate that the item is a keyword search and provide a
link (with the text "search") that dynamically opens the input box and
focuses on it.
- Speed up those redirects when keyword searching over Del search.
- Enhance the Del Firefox extension with a feature to import all
keyword searches from Del to browser bookmarks (and vice versa).
--
Mislav
On 10/17/06, l.m.orchard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> In the meantime, what do you think? What would make this feature more
> useful?
>
> For example, I've got the search forms automatically visible so that
> you can quickly click on them and enter text for a search. However,
> would it be less confusing if the forms were hidden until you clicked
> on the bookmark? Better in a popup? Any other ideas?
>
> Thanks!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ydn-delicious/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ydn-delicious/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
