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Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

#21

Post by pquerna »

I don't think its perfect, but I think Yelp's search UI does pretty well for a ton of choices, and integrates Geo-boxing in a way that most people can understand more easily than within 20 miles of a zip code

Example:

https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=tacos&start=0&l=g:-122...

They keep the most common filters quickly available, make it easier to dive into more, and their search result entry contains the neighborhood so i can quickly figure out where something is, a photo, part of a review, phone number and address.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

#22

Post by yoo1I »

lucb1e wrote: post #17
isxek wrote: post #4

If you means something that searches for files within any directory, I think the best so far I've used was Everything ( https://www.voidtools.com/ ). Lightweight, fast, and really simple UI. I'm still looking for a Linux equivalent (I'm currently using a shell wrapper for `ag --depth 0 -g `.)

> I'm still looking for a Linux equivalent You mean `locate`? Package name in Debian is mlocate. I don't know ag and it's not a package in Debian. That said, I agree that Everything is a must-have on Windows. I don't understand how Microsoft's own search engine is so incredibly crappy (and has been since, what, Windows 95?) while Everything is a 200KB binary that does it perfectly.

> I don't know ag and it's not a package in Debian.

You're in for a treat then: the package name is "silversearcher-ag".

Next time you want to grep a directory of files: instead of grepping it, pause, remember this comment, install it and then do "ag " instead.

It's quite a bit faster. Well, lots faster.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

#24

Post by softawre »

yoo1I wrote: post #22
lucb1e wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm still looking for a Linux equivalent You mean `locate`? Package name in Debian is mlocate. I don't know ag and it's not a package in Debian. That said, I agree that Everything is a must-have on Windows. I don't understand how Microsoft's own search engine is so incredibly crappy (and has been since, what, Windows 95?) while Everything is a 200KB binary that does it perfectly.

> I don't know ag and it's not a package in Debian. You're in for a treat then: the package name is "silversearcher-ag". Next time you want to grep a directory of files: instead of grepping it, pause, remember this comment, install it and then do "ag " instead. It's quite a bit faster. Well, lots faster.

faster still: https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep

Re: Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

#25

Post by lucb1e »

yoo1I wrote: post #22
lucb1e wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm still looking for a Linux equivalent You mean `locate`? Package name in Debian is mlocate. I don't know ag and it's not a package in Debian. That said, I agree that Everything is a must-have on Windows. I don't understand how Microsoft's own search engine is so incredibly crappy (and has been since, what, Windows 95?) while Everything is a 200KB binary that does it perfectly.

> I don't know ag and it's not a package in Debian. You're in for a treat then: the package name is "silversearcher-ag". Next time you want to grep a directory of files: instead of grepping it, pause, remember this comment, install it and then do "ag " instead. It's quite a bit faster. Well, lots faster.

Thanks! I installed it a and aliased grep to 'echo Try ag'.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

#26

Post by JoshTriplett »

Newegg has one of the most powerful product search/filter mechanisms I've seen. It's not the best UX (could use more performance and a better multi-select mechanism, and dividing the interface into three levels of simple/advanced/power search doesn't seem ideal), but in terms of functionality, it almost always has the features I want pulled out and selectable. Search for a monitor, and you'll get options for resolution, inputs, size, etc.

In terms of raw performance, I'm impressed with the speed and presentation of https://instantdomainsearch.com/ . Instant live responsiveness improves usability significantly.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

#28

Post by chevas »

isxek wrote: post #4

If you means something that searches for files within any directory, I think the best so far I've used was Everything ( https://www.voidtools.com/ ). Lightweight, fast, and really simple UI. I'm still looking for a Linux equivalent (I'm currently using a shell wrapper for `ag --depth 0 -g `.)

And today I discovered a tool that solves a frustrating problem in Windows, thanks!

Re: Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

#29

Post by spking »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #26

Newegg has one of the most powerful product search/filter mechanisms I've seen. It's not the best UX (could use more performance and a better multi-select mechanism, and dividing the interface into three levels of simple/advanced/power search doesn't seem ideal), but in terms of functionality, it almost always has the features I want pulled out and selectable. Search for a monitor, and you'll get options for resoluti…

I'll second https://instantdomainsearch.com/. Despite lots of copycats and more "feature-rich" alternatives, I find myself using IDS by default because of its speed and simplicity.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best 'non-frustrating' search/directory UI/UX you've seen?

#30

Post by tehwalrus »

The very old iTunes search bar. I still miss it.

Basically, because the list of songs was short-ish (in CS terms), it would fiter it based on the current search textbox what seemed like instantly.

I would have a large list and filter it down each time the user types another letter: and concentrate on making that as fast as possible.

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