Better Faceted Navigation: Advanced Design Techniques
Faceted navigation has become the standard search/browse interface for any
website presenting a large catalog of items, but technology has improved
drastically since the introduction of this concept, and the original
interaction designs for this feature are becoming outdated. Using newer
technologies such as (but not limited to) AJAX, we can now offer the user much
more powerful tools to narrow the focus of their search. Advanced techniques in
this area include multiple-value selections, visual navigation, range sliders
and partial page refreshes, among others.
As with many innovations, however, when we expand beyond known best practices,
many new questions emerge. What value does the ability to select multiple
values for a given facet bring? Should all or part of the page reload? Which
new UI widgets help the customer make a better decision, and which simply add
noise and confusion? And what impact does each of these decisions have on the
overall experience?
In this session aimed at IAs of all levels, we will answer these and other
questions by reviewing emerging trends in faceted navigation and by sharing the
learnings from QVC’s design process, test results and implementation of an
updated navigation. We’ll also take a look at some of the other sites
attempting to innovate in this area and review how they performed in usability
testing. Lastly, we’ll begin to build a new set of best practices for
advanced faceted navigation interfaces.
