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Website search hurts my feelings

openmymind.net

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Re: Website search hurts my feelings

#81

Post by marginalia_nu »

robertlagrant wrote: post #79
marginalia_nu wrote: post #46

Feels like there's a pretty widespread problem that goes something like this: * PO: We need search! * PM to architect: Google how to implement search! * Architect: googles "best search library 2023 java" Aha! Let's use Elasticsearch! * PM to Team: Alright, I need a search feature next sprint. Architect googled for 5 minutes and says we should use elasticsearch! * Team: Alright, integrating elasticsearch in a sprint s…

I think if you remove the cariacature that approach isn't terrible, assuming there's no more suitable technology. Why not have a basic search and iterate, including iterating the technology choice. You can hide it behind a feature flag if you don't think it's ready.

The problem is that the sort of stuff you need to tune a search engine to actually perform well doesn't look like work. It simply can't be broken down into deliveries that provide incremental business value, and throughout the entire process it's going to look like a bunch of fiddling with numbers with nothing to show for it.

Re: Website search hurts my feelings

#82

Post by squarefoot »

One thing for sure is that shitty search algorithms in a page showing ads before search results, have the useful side effect of forcing users to refine search, exposing them to more ads before they find what they were searching for.

Re: Website search hurts my feelings

#83

Post by [deleted] »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #46

Feels like there's a pretty widespread problem that goes something like this: * PO: We need search! * PM to architect: Google how to implement search! * Architect: googles "best search library 2023 java" Aha! Let's use Elasticsearch! * PM to Team: Alright, I need a search feature next sprint. Architect googled for 5 minutes and says we should use elasticsearch! * Team: Alright, integrating elasticsearch in a sprint s…

[deleted]

Re: Website search hurts my feelings

#84

Post by ano-ther »

Tagging ins tedious. Especially when it’s not you who searches but lots of other people, all with their specific ways of describing what they are looking for.

And yes, the results are between amusing, annoying and infuriating.

The “alcohol” example finding mostly comes from alcohol free products advertising this feature in their name - no need to name your regular beer or wine “with alcohol”, at least not in the product name.

Re: Website search hurts my feelings

#85

Post by [deleted] »

vasco wrote: post #3

If heads of product were forced to use their own products for a full afternoon every week the quality of the web would increase a lot. The amount of high level product people that can't demo their own product and cannot find features they hype up in slide decks is depressing.

[deleted]

Re: Website search hurts my feelings

#87

Post by [deleted] »

Gracana wrote: post #10

The one that really hurts my feelings is when the search function on a manufacturer’s website doesn’t recognize their own part numbers. Then I get angry and go to google, which gives me unrelated ad results instead. Ah, familiarity.

[deleted]

Re: Website search hurts my feelings

#89

Post by [deleted] »

eusto wrote: post #65
marginalia_nu wrote: post #46

Feels like there's a pretty widespread problem that goes something like this: * PO: We need search! * PM to architect: Google how to implement search! * Architect: googles "best search library 2023 java" Aha! Let's use Elasticsearch! * PM to Team: Alright, I need a search feature next sprint. Architect googled for 5 minutes and says we should use elasticsearch! * Team: Alright, integrating elasticsearch in a sprint s…

It's more about what the company considers core business and what not. Most often they don't see the website as being important enough to the business so they don't invest in it. We have gotten used to almost flawless experiences from amazon shopping. Google search finds (or used to) results sometimes almost like magic, etc. The thing is, that's the core business. These companies invent new technologies and have huge…

[deleted]

Re: Website search hurts my feelings

#90

Post by toast0 »

hunter2_ wrote: post #67
eusto wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more about what the company considers core business and what not. Most often they don't see the website as being important enough to the business so they don't invest in it. We have gotten used to almost flawless experiences from amazon shopping. Google search finds (or used to) results sometimes almost like magic, etc. The thing is, that's the core business. These companies invent new technologies and have huge…

> almost flawless experiences from amazon shopping It's pretty good, but there are some longtime flaws that blow my mind, such as the order of results when sorting by price. It never makes sense to me.

I think order by price might be ordering by the lowest available price at time of index. This could be an out of date price if the index isn't updated when other pricing is updated. It almost certainly doesn't include shipping, as that can vary depending on where the item is and where you are so it can't be indexed. Filtering by seller doesn't change the sorting, in my experience, and I think neither does filtering by condition.

So, if someone is selling a used item in poor condition with maximum shipping, that product is going to sort as a low priced item.

At least, that's my reverse engineered understanding.

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