121–130 of 166 posts
Finally. I completely hated how as I was typing I would change my mind and decide maybe I did want to click on a link only to see it instantly disappear. Then the back-button didn't work as expected, so I just ended up having to re-type my query. Every time.
Especially annoying when testing multiple queries to find the optimal one and you decided that a query of 3 submissions ago was the most effective and you couldn't remember it precisely.
Whenever I see "Google Instant" reference, I get always chuckle because I swear that two of my friends and I actually invented it back in '09 for a Yahoo sponsored Hackathon. I clearly remember one day logging onto my machine, going to google to search for something and just sitting there with my jaw on the ground as the "instant" feature began searching as I typed. I must've sat there for at least 5 minutes. I then…
And I'm fairly sure I wasn't the first to think of that either.
Just because you think you think of something 'first' doesn't mean you really are the first and doesn't mean that your idea is being ripped off by others, most likely they were totally unaware of 'your' idea, just like they were unaware of mine.
Most of these are obvious anyway.
The most annoying part is still there -- of the home page morphing into the search results page as soon as text is typed. It is a totally nonsensical design. 1) Type stuff into google.com 2) Delete all the text You are now on a totally empty results page. Why is this a sensible design?
This isn't happening for me. Try it in incognito mode, maybe?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do people frequently use the Google Homepage for search? I've always just used the address / search bar via Ctrl+K shortcuts for instant searching. Why waste time going to google.com directly?
TIL: CTRL+K shortcut is F6 + TYPE
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On top of that it's a constant perplexing hindrance for Luddites like myself who insist upon using the backspace key to navigate back a page, instead leaving me wondering why my search results page is refreshing instead. Every. Single. Time. I know, I know, it's my fault. But it's not.
You can also use Alt-LeftArrow, which works even if a text input field had focus.
And well, there's many keyboards out there with no right Alt, meaning that you have to use two hands to execute that shortcut. So, I really don't think, it's a good idea to try to force people away from using backspace, as bad of a key as it is to be using for this...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my experience these slow typists also tend to look at the keyboard while they are typing - not at the screen. Thereby completely negating the benefit for this group of people. I guess that for the intersection of slow typists who look at the screen while typing, Instant Search is useful. But how big is this intersection really?
You're right to some degree, but there were lots of user studies done. It was a net positive. One of the amusing things was that users would follow the instant results without necessarily being consciously aware of them. I.e., when describing their interactions with prototypes, only a few noticed and pointed out that they were getting results without pressing Enter, yet a larger number clicked on them. It had to be p…
Suddenly, I can no longer navigate between results using Tab -> Arrow Up/Arrow Down. Was this removed as well? :-/
Wow, finally. This was such a disruptive feature. Completely distracting from the moment you interact with the page. This wasn't a productivity bonus in any way, regardless of purported reading recognition rates and eye tracking/movement measurements. No, computer. You wait until I'm finished. You wait until I tell you I want you to do something. You don't jump at every flinch of my fingers. Not all interactions requ…
Now if only they would stop swapping Images, News, and Shopping link around based on my search. I want a picture of whatever I searched for, that's why I clicked the button next to 'All' like I have a thousand times before - don't reorder your damn links from page to page!
So "I'm Feeling Lucky" is a real and clickable button again!
But yeah, that is interesting. They supposedly lose/lost a lot of money from that button, as it skips past their ads.
Also, they are supposedly redesigning the Google Homepage [0], moving away from having just the search field there to having a news feed, the weather and some such there as well.
So, maybe this change is in anticipation of that and maybe they'll also tuck some ads into there then, to actually monetize the time people spend on their homepage.
[0]: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/20/google-ch...