Re: Site Structure vs. Site Navigation

[Sai Kiran <ch98086 che iitm ac in>]

Friends,
	I just could not agree more with Tomas. For any decently big
website (and GNOME is a pretty big site), a search engine is more
of a necessity. It can definitely become very irritating for the visitor
if it is not properly designed. But, looking at the kind of people we have
on the list and their experience, I think it's absolutely no problem
coming up with a good search engine design. I think the search box should
feature consistently in all the pages. 

Sai

> > > >P.S. If you've noticed that
I've not mentioned
a search > > > >interface, congratulations. I do not consider a search
> > > >interface, however good, a replacement for good structure
> > > >and navigation. A user should never be forced to search.
> > > >Unfortunately, many sites use search as a band-aid for poor
> > > >structure and navigation.
> > >
> > > Agreed, with the caveat that a good search tool is a wonderful (and
> > > often unimplemented) supplement to good structure and well planned
> > > navigation.  Please don't throw out the baby with the bathwater on
> > > this one.
> > 
> > Sorry, I was a little unclear. I also consider search to be
> > a valuable tool, but have often seen it used as a band-aid.
> 
> If the search engine is not good made, people probably only gets trash
> results. But if the search engine is good, I consider it a better
> navigation system than spend my time thinking where is something and
> navigating throw many pages (also in a well structured site).
> 
> Let's view and example. When I go to IBM to get info about the new tape
> storage format called LTO. I can do:
> 
> ibm.com -> products -> storage -> tape storage -> product -> select tape
> format: LTO -> what I want
> (every step requires a decision, read 90% of uninteresting text and wait
> for dowloading pages)
> 
> Or I can:
> ibm.com search for: LTO tape -> what I want
> 
> In big sites (I consider Gnome site as a big one), a search engine is a
> better system to navigate than click and wait every time.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Tomas V.V.Cox
>