Designing an Effective Search Facility
http://infocentre.frontend.com/infocentre/articles/designinganeffectivesearchfacility.html

Frontend Infocentre
2001

Abstract:

Whilst some designers would insist that to even contemplate adding a search engine to a site is to admit some sort of failure of interaction design, most would agree that in certain circumstances some form of search facility can be appropriate. Either way, it is an issue that sooner or later is likely to be addressed by many site developers. It is important to recognise that when we speak of a 'search facility' we are often applying one catch-all name to what is in fact many distinct functions. There is a significant difference, for example, between searching for specific items with specific names (such as books in a bookshop) and looking for any documents that contain certain words or phrases. The former is a targeted, 'hard' search, the latter a much more complex 'soft' process that is likely to place greater demands on the user if they are to be successful. Although in terms of interface design and technology these searches may be similar, for the user they are very different processes.