Recently, the search system of the website has been improved. When many users use the search function of the website, some information cannot be accurately matched, or even matched incorrectly. For example, a user wants to search for information about scenic spots in Huangshan Hongcun, and he enters Hongcun in the search box. However, Jingdezhen Yaoli Ancient Village appeared in the search results. There are many reasons for search mismatches, including user input errors, website resource limitations, website information search architecture, website search matching permissions, etc.
From the perspective of a website designer, what kind of information matching method can meet the user's search needs. At present, the main information matching method of the website is keyword matching. According to the keywords provided by the user, the keywords in the website are matched, and finally the search results are presented. Sometimes, for the sake of commercial interests, the website may give priority to matching the matching content set by it, providing a Pile useless information to users, damaging a certain user experience. In order to improve information matching and user experience, users' information search behavior should be studied carefully, and then the information matching method should be set. Today we will mainly talk about users' information search behavior, and continue to pay attention to the website's information matching method.
What information needs do users have?
When I was a child, my teacher often told us the story of a monkey breaking corn. It said that a monkey went down the mountain and saw a large corn field. He broke a piece of corn and held it in his arms. He continued walking and saw a watermelon field again. He picked a big watermelon and put it in his arms. Throw away the corn, continue walking, see sesame seeds again, throw away the watermelon again... The reason why monkeys throw away corns here is not to say that they are half-hearted, but to understand what kind of monkeys our users are? Do they know what information they are looking for?
General websites divide user search behavior into four types: deterministic search, exploratory search, exhaustive search, and repetitive search.
deterministic search
What is deterministic search? To give an example in life, this weekend I want to go to the vegetable market to buy a crucian carp and braise it at home. Crucian carp is my definite need when I go to the vegetable market. I am very familiar with crucian carp and this vegetable market. When I go to the aquatic product area of the vegetable market, Find a crucian carp seller, select, weigh, pay, and finally go home. In deterministic search, the user usually knows what to look for, what ranking to call it in, and where to find it.
exploratory search
Sometimes users are not sure what they want to find, and may just be looking for some reference information or hoping that the website can provide suggestions. Exploratory searches are usually endless. The user does not expect to get precise results. He cannot express and does not want to express himself. The specific needs may be to wander aimlessly on the website. For example, a Shanghai user plans to have a weekend trip in December. The best travel destinations are several surrounding cities. He will check if the website has any special topics in the near future. , suddenly he saw the hot recommendation of the season—Nanjing Tangshan Hot Spring, which changed his search direction. He wanted to know about hot spring tourism. He would carefully search the website for information about Tangshan Hot Spring, including ticket prices, scenic spot introductions, route conditions, Hot spring health care, etc. Since he has not learned about hot spring health care before, he may conduct an in-depth search on hot spring health care. For b2c websites, exploratory search has higher requirements on the content resources of the website. The information provided by the website must be helpful to users and enable users to make purchasing decisions, ultimately improving the conversion rate of the website.
No-miss search
When users need every piece of information, they are conducting an exhaustive search and want to turn over every stone. For example, a tourist who plans to visit Zhouzhuang wants to search for any information about Zhouzhuang. In order to search for all the information, he will construct keywords in different ways. For example, he will patiently use "Zhouzhuang", "Zhouzhuang tickets" and "Zhouzhuang tickets". Prices", "Zhouzhuang scenery", "Zhouzhuang hotels", "Zhouzhuang routes", users who search without omissions have enough patience to filter and collect information, which is somewhat similar to the competitor analysis we usually do, so website operators should look at it from multiple angles Match information for users and reasonably classify information for users. More information matching about the website and user information search behavior (2) will be discussed in detail.
repetitive search
The famous German psychologist Ebbinghaus once proposed the human memory curve. Human memory is always limited. Over a period of time, information will fade from the brain until it is slowly forgotten. Therefore, people will always look for the past repeatedly. Useful information that has been encountered. For example, a user saw a book on Amazon that he wanted to read very much. He may be busy with other things and forgot to place an order for it. Then he remembered the book a few days later, but the title was forgotten. At this time, the user needs to search again. If the website can leave historical traces for the user, help and prompt the user to browse the information, it is precisely the Amazon website that can record every operation of the user. When the user logs in to the website again, the website It will kindly remind users of their last browsing information and recommend relevant information to users. What a considerate website.
summary
The four information search needs do not reflect all, but most user search behaviors will still fall into these four needs. All website designers should consider the target user's information when designing the website's search information architecture. requirements, and design different information matching methods for each type of user.
Article source: Cooler-Design less and think more