User Experience Monitor

A Short List of Market Research Blogs

I came across Kathryn Korostoff's excellent short list of market research blogs in Quirk's recently, and found it worth passing on:

A research blogger on research blogs - the 10 must reads (and a few honorable mentions)

My particular favorite is Bruce Temkin's Experience Matters blog, but there is something for everyone in this list from top marketing and market research pros.

QuickLook: Google's New 'Search as You Type' Feature

Google has recently launched a new feature that may shake the Web industry, from how search happens on sites, to how users across the Web get to sites, and it looks like this:

The feature, known as Google Instant allows a user entering a keyword term to see a dynamically changing screen as s/he types in the search text field.

Unlike other iterations of "type ahead" search that simply show the user most popular search terms through a pull-down menu, this feature has much more going on under the hood: the entire screen of search results change as you type.

Now, a dynamically changing screen can either be a great thing, or a not-so-great thing. Will users adapt to it? Like it? Hate it? The good aspect is that you can instantly fine-tune your search to get something...well..different than you had originally intended.  The negative aspect is that users may or may not understand what is happening right away.  Also, my experience in usability testing has shown me that many adult users are bothered when an interface changes rapidly, especially if they don't understand why it is changing.  It could potentially make some users nervous.

Nevertheless, I believe Google's latest feature  will have many long-term implications for search engine optimization and search advertising, as well as how competitors view the whole "search animal."

Follow more coverage about Google Instant on: PC World