To say Google’s search engine is pretty good is an understatement. I often find myself using it even if I’m 90% sure of the actual URL. However, the results I’m looking for aren’t always on the first page. And, while the results page does a decent job with “pagination”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagination I think it could be better. Providing the user with a large hit area for the next results page would be a welcome improvement for those times when what your looking for resides a few pages deeper. It’s not that I miss the current target, it’s that I want to spend little to no time worrying about my mouse accuracy.
This solution isn’t just right for Google. Most search engines could benefit from an element like this. The first and only example I’ve come across that uses something like this is “Veer”:http://www.veer.com.
Lastly on search UI, if you haven’t had a chance to check out “Snap.com”:http://www.snap.com you should. Unlike Google it shows screen captures of the pages your searching. Plus, it allows you to traverse results using your keyboard.
written by Geoff Teehan
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