Go to www.apple.com and punch something into the search window. What returns is a categorized list with icons and short descriptions for all things Apple sells or services. I was looking at a relatively new piece of software from National Geographic that’s a tie-in to a television special on the subject of King Herod’s Lost Tomb. I did a quick keyword search and was pleased to find this new search feature that was really helpful for finding the right thing quickly.
I like the fact that it makes the tie-in to iTunes store items, as well as software or hardware. It’s a good way to cross-sell visitors to the site on the additional content that’s available. But it does make the site more sales-oriented.
This is the first time I’ve seen this helpful ‘pop-out’ functionality on a search window online. It’s large enough to read easily, and it’s a friendlier way to find content. I’m hoping we’ll see more of these interesting innovations on other sites, and I’m wondering how easy it might be to implement for our readers.
