Search Usability: Ask Why Users Search To Enhance ROI From Enterprise Search Technology

John Brunswick writing on the Enterprise 2.0 blog encourages implementers of enterprise search to consider what problems users are trying to solve when they carry out searches using Enterprise Search technology.  Using the analogy: “Why Lance Armstrong doesn’t ride a mountain bike”, John makes the point that too much emphasis added to technical considerations such as weighting on documents and other mechanical analysis when it should be based around the task or activity they are involved in:

“When it comes to enterprise search most implementations are fixated on what metadata and what weighting should be applied to documents and other information – without ever stopping to ask “what is driving people to search”.  Are people looking for documentation on a particular product or subject.  Is the end user attempting to locate details about a support request that they filed?  Or is the person looking for a particular discussion on a certain topic?” [Read More]

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