Sam Mefford Enterprise Search Practice Lead Avalon Consulting, LLC. Changing ‘Hide and Seek’ to ‘Index and Find’

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Changing ‘Hide and Seek’ to ‘Index and Find’ Successful Search is Simple Connect Users - > Information How to Implement Education is key

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Successful Search is Simple Industry messaging too complex Users want Information How do we connect Users - > Information? Focus on the User needs Focus on the Information Focus on the UI! Search FeaturesUI OSFA is bad for the user Constant innovation distracting Google is a bad & a good example Search Engines are not the solution, they are a part of the solution

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Faceted Navigation Focus on UI! What do Monster, Amazon, and Kayak have in common? Faceted Navigation Targeted Search Applications User-Experience Driven Data from many sources well integrated Faceted Navigation

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Focus on Information Organize index on user needs, not available sources Mashups / Virtual Documents Increase the Signal (more right information) Make it easier to add info—consider self-service Audit—percent information searchable? Overcome the Noise (less wrong information) Structured data powers faceted navigation Extract structured data Focused search applications Custom relevancy

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Focus on User Needs Search Engine = Application platform Search Engine != complete solution Give users the customized UIs they need Give users the information they need Give users the speed they need Give users the feedback loop they need

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential How to Implement? Educate Search Decision Makers Conduct Interviews Present realistic plan Set expectations of ongoing improvement

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential How to Implement?  Educate Search Decision Makers Conduct Interviews Present realistic plan Set expectations of ongoing improvement

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Educate Search Decision Makers Search is not a black box Evangelize great UI features like facets Explain indexing, query, results, security Use important initiatives to frame search capabilities Institutionalize search experience feedback loop

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential How to Implement? Educate Search Decision Makers  Conduct Interviews Present realistic plan Set expectations of ongoing improvement

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Typical Interview What search terms? What expected results? “payroll calendar” Received most recent calendar for another division Solution: sort by date, boost by user’s division “hedis access to care report” No meaningful results Solution: index reports, apply security

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Typical Interview, cont. “EBT” No useful results Solution: update synonyms from posted list “performance evaluation forms” want it to prompt “Did you mean: performance agreement form” Solution: custom key match (outside search engine)

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential How to Implement? Educate Search Decision Makers Conduct Interviews  Present realistic plan Set expectations of ongoing improvement

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Present a Realistic Plan Take time to match user needs to available features Start with search applications, not Enterprise Search Plan for IA, L&F, UI Toolkits, SSO, SEO, CM, UAT

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential How to Implement? Educate Search Decision Makers Conduct Interviews Present realistic plan  Set expectations of ongoing improvement

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Set Expectations of Ongoing Improvement Benchmarking & measurement Include feedback forms & user surveys Search Center of Excellence Bandwidth to focus Experience Ongoing evangelism & education Governance Committee(s)

© 2008, Avalon Consulting, LLC Proprietary & Confidential Conclusion Search is Simple Connect Users - > Information = UI Search Engine is a part of the solution Education is key Search nirvana is available NOW Contact Info: Sam Mefford Enterprise Search Practice Lead