Site Comment: Yellow Page Search on Krak.dk
by Kristoffer Bohmann, July 6, 2001
Too many required choices, too much mouse moving, too weak words, and less obvious options make address search hard on Krak.dk.
The search interface on Krak.dk, provider of address and business info in Denmark, is commented.
Forced Selection of Search Area
The most painful part of the dialogue is the required selection of search area (Angiv søgeområde). Most novice users will repeatedly forget to do so resulting in an error message. Imagine what it would be like if Google forced users to select search area (say between PDF and HTML documents). Would they do it? I don't think so.
The words used to describe each search area are not exact enough. First of all, what is a search area? Also, what is a location (lokalitet) as opposed to a firm or person? Better wording is required.
Too Much Mouse Movement
Most users will need to use their mouse to select the next search field even though a JavaScript automatically activates the cursor in the name field. (Only expert users will use tabulator.) This creates a rather high need for moving the mouse around to conduct a simple search.
The search button is not obvious enough as two other buttons (Clear fields, Help) also call for attention. The interface would benefit if the Clear fields button was removed and the Help button reduced to a less obvious link.
Search tips are displayed as error messages. A better solution is to prevent user errors by presenting search tips as an integral part of the interface.
Business Need for Limited Search
Of course it would be better to leave out the entire select search area. But this solution is only better from a user perspective, not from a business perspective since it will require more server capacity. Expensive. The lack of server capacity may become a competitive disadvantage to Krak and the company needs to be aware of the fact that competitors can attack by providing easier access to search results (as one of several new interface elements) to gain competitive advantage in the eyes of users.
PS: Nice feature: a cookie recalls your last search and selected search area, useful for heavy users of the service but it doesn't solve the problem for new users and users who need access to all available search areas (for instance, phone number search requires searches in the databases for both persons and companies.
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About the Author
Kristoffer Bohmann (biography) M.Sc. thinks and writes about high-quality user experiences. His philosophy: Users first. You can contact him at kb@bohmannusability.com. |
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