Search

There is a lot of information out there. There is also a lot of crap. Google has done wonderfully well in providing an easy way to generate an ordered list of crap based upon simple queries. This is not a failing of Google, it's more a statement on the web, I guess. Now, let me paint you a simple scenario, where the problem the user is trying to solve is "Why does my Windows machine crash when I try and watch a DVD":

• User fires up Google and types in a search term; "windows crash" + DVD.
  
• User gets a massive list (30k results at the time of writing)
• User filters through the results, occasionally refining the search and either gets lucky or frustrated
• Chances are, someone, somewhere has had the same problem and has fixed it

This is a pretty common scenario, where a user is trying to solve a problem leveraging the knowledge scattered throughout the web. Some other common scenarios include:

• Searching for information on a person (esp. a famous one)
• Searching for product information and/or reviews
• Searching for cheap prices on a desired item

So, the challenges here are firstly to better understand the goal of the user, and secondly, to better understand the content of the indexed information.

TBC.