ENI : Previewing search

A predictive on-screen taster of search results.

The Site

ENI, the Italy-based oil and gas producer, gives an instant on-screen ‘taster’ of the results of a site search.

ENI’s site search is located in a utility bar at top right of all pages. Search terms are typed into a conventional blank field. However, as typing progresses a dropdown panel appears below the bar showing five results. These consist of a headline and topic summary and can be clicked to go to the matched content. Alternatively, a full set of results can be accessed from a ‘Show all the results’ link at the bottom of the panel.

The featured results can change as more characters are typed in.

The Takeaway

ENI’s use of predictive matching – as characters are entered into the search panel the engine makes a ‘most likely’ judgement on the word being typed – is sophisticated and rare. But it’s use of an instant preview panel is a definite cherry on the icing. Rather than have to leave the current page, users can effectively put it on hold while instigating their search, and make an assessment of it relevance before opting either to go to content, see more results or try again.

The use of topic summaries – again a rarity – is critical to the value of the feature, allowing a reasonable assessment to be made of the suitability of the proposed link. All in all, a genuine raising of the benchmark.

First published on 04 September, 2008