SEARCHing for the right words…

From reading this about search, I can only assume LL have hired spinmeister Alastair Campbell to handle their PR.I’m really having trouble coming up with an adjective that expresses my reaction.

Talk about spin – I was doing about 2,000 rpm myself just reading it!

There are many things allegedly “wrong” with Viewer 2.0. If I’m brutally honest, many of them boil down to inertia – people don’t want to change. Well, tough on them. But…it has to be said, there are some glaring issues with Viewer 2.0 that really do need to be addressed. One of them is the Sidebar. Another is Search.

Let’s not fiddle fart here. Search has always ben an issue in Second Life – we all use it in different ways, and what is “good” or “popular” for one set of residents is going to be scorned by others. Ergo, getting a tool that can successfully mix the concepts of searching, filtering, calculating and displaying results in a manner that pleases everyone is going to be hard.

But that’s really no excuse for a) pumping out something that is almost entirely inappropriate for Second Life; and b) trying to pass it off as the proverbial best thing since sliced bread.

I’m very happy to announce that, as a core feature of the new Viewer 2 Beta, Second Life Search has been redesigned inside and out to make finding the people, places and content you’re looking for easier than ever before. Liana Linden gushes, before spelling out why the new engine is so wonderful, and then concluding. The bottom line is that the new Second Life Search benefits everyone within the Second Life economic ecosystem–most importantly business and Residents–as it plays a crucial role connecting inworld buyers and sellers.

Well great. Only one problem. Search isn’t necessarily “all about” the buying / selling of goods. And eve if it was, this new tool leaves much to be desired.Let’s look at just some of the issues:

• You cannot filter searches in terms of overall category. No matter what you’re looking for, whether you use the navigation bar shortcut or the main Search window, you have to enter your search keyword / phrase and hit return first. Only when you have a set of results can you then filter down.
  • So you cannot, for example, select PEOPLE and then search on an avatar’s full name or a first / last name. You have to run a default search of ALL categories first.
  • So cannot search for a specific place, as PLACES will not be available until after your initial search has been run.

• If you’re searching for an event, you’d best know where it is, rather than what it is, or you’re initially stuffed.
• Searches that originally took 3 or 4 clicks of the mouse now seem to take forever – both in terms of mouse clicks and (all too often) having to mentally filter results as well as scroll endlessly
• Land search is borked to the nth degree. Again, great if you know the name of a parcel / region, otherwise not so hot
• The window does not retain information from previous searches. Close it, and the results and keyword(s) / phrase entered are gone – not great if you want to use Search as a reference aid, but need it out of the way for extended periods (yes, you can minimise and retain information – but that’s at the expense of screen space)
• Too much space is wasted on irrelevant information, leading to the need to repeatedly click through pages of around 3 result each
• Sorting is hit-and-miss
• There is no convenience usage in the new interface. As I’ve previously noted, on of the beauties of the old Search was the ease with which you could view results: a nice two-pane window in which you’d get a list of results on the left, which you could then click on individual items, and display more information on them in the right pane. Simple, direct and easy. Now Search is frequently a matter of two PAINS:
  • A somewhat counter-intuitive interface window that wastes time and effort both in terms of usability and in the eay in which information is presented
  • The need to go to the Sidebar to get detailed information on a selected item appearing in Search – thus generating a further unwelcome intrusion into the sol-called “immersive experience” Second Life is allegedly supposed to be.

I could go on – but enough points are being made over at the discussion group. And as per usuall, seem to be getting little or nothing in the way of any response from Liana….or anyone else for that matter.

Issues with Serach are not new. It has been the subject of intense debate and upset for years. Yet with each iteration, it seems to get worse and worse when it comes to functionality, ease of use and relevance of results. Add to this the amount of negative feeback that was apparently received during the closed Alpha testing of Viewer 2.0 and the fact that  – by their own admission – most of Linden Lab’s own staff “hated” the new Viewer (but were, it seems, nevertheless forced to endure), I think I’ve come up with a new byline to replace the much-missed Your World, Your imagination. It’s this (with apologies to Paramount TV and the makers of “Frasier”): We’re not listening.