Web Design tips: Navigation and search merge design in Web pages

Possibilities for merging navigation with search

A large part of the portal's content is dependent on the navigation system, and the portal relies heavily on the search system, which also proves the overlap between navigation and search in some sense. Search system can complete the function of navigation, and navigation in a certain sense can also complete the search function.

The navigation of the website can be regarded as the extraction of the keyword category in the search system in a certain sense, this category can be big and small. For example, many shopping sites in the "mobile" category, which is a large category, and "mobile" under the category of "Sony Ericsson" Brand is a small category. These two categories can be represented through the hierarchy of the navigation system, and can also be displayed based on the search system's range search.

Even if the search system can almost completely replace the navigation system in the function, but the navigation system is still an indispensable component of the site, in advance to the site theme of the core extraction search system in the large category as a navigation, the user to get the scope of specific information for the category of filtering. This is the demand from the user to get specific information in the shortest possible time.

However, the navigation system of almost all Web sites is different from the form of the search system, so that users can quickly and accurately distinguish between navigation and search. Since the navigation system can be used as a part of the search system, why can't the two be superimposed on the form?

As shown above, the navigation system directly in the form of a Drop-down box, the dropdown box itself is part of the search system, is the search scope of the filter.

The second type of navigation is actually a formal gap with the first category, but the third kind uses the Linkage drop-down menu way to be more likely to search the system the scope to select, simultaneously such navigation design may also take into account to guide the user path the breadcrumbs navigation, however this navigation restriction is the big category cannot carry on the cross screening, can only be a linear range filter.

You then try a fourth navigation with a dimension that merges with the search:

Of course, such a combination of navigation and search has a great limitation, that is, the category of the site can not be more, if the vertical nature of the shopping site may be feasible, users can cross the dimensions of the screening method to find a certain range of information.

If the user has a clear goal, such as knowing the headline of the news, or knowing the name model of the item that is about to be purchased, then the user needs only a search box where navigation is superfluous.