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Search Patterns--New from O'Reilly: Design for Discovery

February 1, 2010

Sebastopol, CA—Search is among the most disruptive innovations of our time. It influences what we buy and where we go. It shapes how we learn and what we believe. In this provocative and inspiring book, you'll explore design patterns that apply across the categories of web, e-commerce, enterprise, desktop, mobile, social, and real-time search and discovery. Filled with colorful illustrations and examples, Search Patterns (O'Reilly Media, $39.99 USD) brings modern information retrieval to life, covering such diverse topics as relevance, faceted navigation, multitouch, personalization, visualization, multisensory search, and augmented reality.

"There's never been a future so unevenly distributed as the world of search and discovery is today," says best-selling author Peter Morville. "Our understanding of what does and doesn't work is advancing rapidly, yet we're often forced to use clumsy search interfaces that should never have escaped the 1990s. Users are invited to speak Boolean and then wait patiently for irrelevant results. These disparities exist because expertise is situated in multiple disciplines and design patterns are scattered across contexts. Our book aims to bridge these gaps and help design teams to make search better through incremental improvement and radical innovation."

Search Patterns will help you:

  • Discover a pattern language for search that embraces user psychology and behavior, information architecture, interaction design, and emerging technology
  • Boost enterprise efficiency and e-commerce sales
  • Enable mobile users to achieve goals, complete tasks, and find what they need
  • Drive design innovation for search interfaces and applications

By drawing on their own experience--as well as best practices and evidence-based research--Morville and co-author Jeffery Callender not only offer a practical guide to help you build effective search applications, they also challenge you to imagine the future of discovery. You'll find Search Patterns intriguing and invaluable, whether you're a web practitioner, mobile designer, search entrepreneur, or just interested in the topic.

Advance Praise
"Search Patterns is a delight to read--very thoughtful and thought provoking. It's the most comprehensive survey of designing effective search experiences I've seen."
--Irene Au, Director of User Experience, Google

"I love this book! Thanks to Peter and Jeffery, I now know that search (yes, boring, old, yucky, who cares, search) is one of the coolest ways around of looking at the world."
--Dan Roam, Author, The Back of the Napkin

For a review copy or more information please email peyton@oreilly.com Please include your delivery address and contact information.

Peter Morville is best known as a founder of the field of information architecture. His bestselling books include "Information Architecture for the World Wide Web" and "Ambient Findability" (both O'Reilly). He advises such clients as AT&T, Harvard, IBM, the Library of Congress, Microsoft, the National Cancer Institute, Vodafone, and the Weather Channel.

Jeffery Callender is vice president and design director of Q LTD, a strategic design consultancy with a global reach. Jeff is focused on bringing clarity to everyday graphic communications that promote positive user experiences.

Additional Resources:
For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bios, and cover graphic, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596802288

Search Patterns
Peter Morville, Jeffery Callender
ISBN: 9780596802288, 602 pages,
Book Price: $44.99 USD, £28.50 GBP
Ebook Price: $31.99 USD

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