Too often, web users get lost in the cracks between Search, Browse, and Ask. Web analytics will enable designers to create truly integrated finding experiences predicts information architect Lou Rosenfeld in a long article on Adobe Design Center’s Think Tank.
“Browsing, searching, and asking may appear to be used as if they were discrete functions, but that’s not really how our brains work when we seek information. [...]
Browsing, searching, and asking might all take place within a single attempt to find information. [...]
Unfortunately, most of the systems we design don’t really support finding. We might do a bang-up job with searching, browsing, or asking. But we’ve failed at integrating them well; therefore our designs fail at helping users to shift effortlessly between these different aspects of finding, and instead impose harsh interruptions on the process.”