Search Bar & Search Result Page

Background

Liquidspace is an online booking platform that offers short and long-term work and meeting spaces nationwide, as well as in Canada and Australia. I was hired as a consultant to redefine the search bar interface as well as the search result page. I was responsible to deliver the iX and wires which were later skinned by one of Liquidspace’s visual designers.

My role

I was responsible for the interaction design and the IA, the creation of wires, the interaction specs and guidelines.

Problem statement

Liquidspace used a standard search interface consisting of a minimal search box where people entered the desired location for a workspace. Refining options were displayed at the top of the subsequent search result page to help users pinpoint the desired results. However, a two step search didn’t fare well as users got easily overwhelmed by the number of results displayed, before realizing they could narrow down their search.

The search result page was also lacking a map-based search capability to offer users an easy way to browse different options from a map.

Process and outcome

After reviewing the requirements and conducting a competitive analysis of websites with complex searches, I quickly realized that the challenge Liquidspace was facing could be solved by a progressive disclosure of advanced parameters enabling users to narrow down their searches and pinpoint the desired results. Using wireframes, I created several interaction concepts that were presented to the executive team and were later tested during an informal usability session. After some iterations, one proposal was implemented and was released in spring 2012.

Some search bar explorations using wireframes

Wireframe of the search result page including a map based search option