(Dieser Beitrag ist nur in Englisch verfügbar.)
One of the most passionate discussions in UI projects is how navigation should work in the particular website or application. Great resources are spent on articulating taxonomies and how deep hierarchies can be visualized in minimally intimidating ways.However it can be observed that the paradigm shift to rather search than browse for information or functionality is also finally embraced in projects more likely than it used to be. This is certainly due to how search engines transformed the way most people navigate in the web over the last years.
A great example how far this can go is highlighted by Cabel Sasser, one of the guys at Panic. Cabel just posted a fascinating observation he made during a recent trip to Japan in his blog along with pictures:
In advertisements the brand’s or product’s URL is not the main cue anymore and sometimes is ommitted totally. Instead it is visualized how to enter the respective name into a search box. This is of course to some extent based on the fact that this way is faster on the dominant mobile devices in Japan but if one pays close attention many “normal users” in the western world also use the (Google) search box as their main way of navigation.
Great food for thought also in terms of how crucial good search marketing becomes …