I came across a new search engine today: RedZee. Apart from the cute but slightly annoying logo the main thing that is different about them is the way they present their search results. I am always interested to see new ways of presenting search results – maybe there is something we use to improve the site search experience for our customers. Unfortunately I didn’t find that at RedZee.
The search experience is something like Apple’s coverflow which is used for browsing through albums. Apple’s coverflow has never pushed my buttons – I’ve always seen it as more of a gimmick. I definitely didn’t like the interface for searching – mainly because you have to use your mouse to scroll through the results. You only see the title and description for the result that is currently at the top. This interface would probably work better for an image search.
There are a few other issues – presumably the most relevant result is the one at the top – is the next most relevant one to the left or the right – which way should I go? It looks like they show the homepage of the site, rather than a shot of the actual page you’ll go to. So in this example for a search for cars the Apple homepage shows featuring the MacBook Air, even though the result is for Apple’s trailer for the movie Cars.
To the RedZee people I say nice try – I think you’re one idea closer to a good one.
