Pre-Search Suggestions
Giving users a jumping off point to easily dive into a genre-based search.
The Problem
Our Search research uncovered a common frustration: Search was missing a way to navigate to specific content categories. Sometimes they wanted to do a targeted intentional search but around a broad category. They often found themselves trapped in a linear decision-making process via our browse pages, by first having to choose between shows or movies, before they could even start exploring. This led to exploring how we could give them a jumping off point for these categories directly from search.
Exploration and Research
It started with the question “where in the search journey will categories provide the most useful?"
Search is a powerful utility and one where efficiency should be preserved. It was clear from the beginning, and market research that providing categories flat on page before entering the search flow was key. From there, we needed to answer additional questions:
Where on the screen can we provide suggestions in a way that preserve access to other tools and content?
What categories do users care about the most?
How often will we update these categories and how can we enable our engineering teams to do that easily in the future?
… and more.
KPIs Targeted:
Mins watched from Search
CTR on Pre-Search
The Design
Partnering with design centered around coming up with solutions that gave users non-intrusive ways to start a search within a category.
Considerations were:
Where on the screen would the suggestions component make sense for the search journey
What is the experience when they select a suggestion
Key Results and Learnings
By adding a Pre-Search suggestions component, we saved users time and effort by making it easier to find content they are interested in. This resulted in:
2% increase in Minutes watched from the Pre-Search page
26% increase in clicks on the Pre-Search page