First post for the new year. Happy 2005… yeah. ok.. that is done.

Continuing the discussion of desktop search from here with some small interjections.

“If that term is intended as a reference to a parent who uses the PC as an overdesigned email terminal or for limited browsing, then I concur, the answer is likely no. The benefit of being able to find emails or search web cache – provided the tool has the technical ability to do so – wouldn’t justify the overhead of running a fulltime indexing too”

This one depends how you look at it. If their machine, oft faster than what they really need, is going mostly un-utilised, why not push a little harder to make the experience that much better? A computers job is to make things easier… not us make it easier for them (or the programmer).

“I’d be willing to bet that if you walked into any realtor and told them you could merely type in a customer’s name and return every document and email related to their search, they’d be ecstatic.”

Spot on. The ‘all in one place’ is what is so brilliant about desktop search. This is just as important to the computer illiterate as it is to power users from a usability view. A computer user is constantly having to find stuff. That letter they wrote yesterday but “don’t know where ‘Word’ put it”. If the have a place they always go to to find something, no matter what it is, this removes a large barrier. 1 place to remember. 1 UI to learn.

Apple have done well in this respect putting spotlight in a highly visible and non modal spot on the OS UI. This is just as important as the underlying technology. If a user can’t find something to use it…. what use is it?

Speed is of huge importance also. If you sit there waiting for something, you don’t want to use it next time. New computer users often don’t ‘click’ as to why they don’t like something also. Lack of speed is a prime example.