Search as a "Session" thing..

This one's small.. not a groundbreaking, game-changing idea as such. But for once, its my own idea and not something that I came across while randomely browsing..

So, all of us use search as our gateway to the web. We fire, on an average, 10-15 queries per day.. if you think of your own search behavior, you will find an interesting pattern. Generally, your searches per day are broken into 3-4 "search sessions". That is, when you visit a search engine, you fire a query on the top of your mind, and then you realize you also wanted to search for something else, so you fir those queries too (like grocery shopping, you go to a grocery shop to buy a bread, and you realize that you also need milk...). Another scenario is, you fire multiple queries to find relevant information on the same topic by toying with the search string..

The second scenario is very interesting to me. Let me give you an example from today. I was researching on "best practices for intranet design". My behavior was as follows:

1. I type in the query string "Best practices for intranet design". I get some results, I click on a few and I find some information useful. But I am not done yet.. I want more relevant results

2. I type in the query string "Intranet portals best practices". Some of the results I get are different from the previous set of results. I click on a few and find some more useful info. But I am not satisfied yet..

3. Now I try "Study of intranet portals".. Get some results, click through, and read some article..

4. While reading, I suddenly feel the urge to go back and see some result that I found in step 1. So I type in again "Best practices for intranet design" and look for that link which I had read..

Doesnt this happen with you..??? It happens with me everyday..whenever I am researching on whatever..

Thinking of it, the solution is simple. Treat search as a session activity, and somehow provide easy access to previously tried query strings in that particular session. Something as simple as a dropdown on search box can help. Every time I load the search engine page, a new session starts. As long as I am on the search page, the session is on, and every search query that I try, gets added to the search box dropdown. The problem solved..?? I dont have to recollect and type the same querystring again.. A small benefit, but definitely a benefit..!!!

We dont want users to login to search engines, that drives more than half users away.. but we can still achieve this session like behavior by using good old "session variables". Obviously, there are perf and memory issues on the search server..what if one user tries million search strings back to back....?? Its an implementation question, and I am sure someone better at coding than me, will have an answer..

So, if we think of search as a session activity, what are the other things that we can provide the user with? How about a "session search box" where you can drag and drop every link you found interesting while you were trying different search strings..?? Imagine on the right top corner of the search results page, a notepad like something. You can sinmply drag and drop links that you like in there in a session, and at the end os session, just save that thing as a notepad file or something.. That will be a great utility for all researchers...

Any other ideas..???

Rewind...

"In order to influence the Future, we must understand and appreciate the Past."

Here are some people who defined the way technology influences investments, businesses and the way the world thinks today.



















Tim Bernes Lee - Founder of the WWW

Larry Page(L) and Sergey Brin(R), founders of Google.Google was originally named 'Googol'. After founders the presented their project to an angel investor, they received a cheque made out to 'Google' . So it Google it remained!

Linus Torvalds of Linux Operating System Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix OS on his system which he replaced by his OS. Hence the working name was Linux (Linus' Minix). He thought the name to be too egotistical and planned to name it Freax (free + freak + x). His friend Ari Lemmk encouraged Linus to upload it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave Linus a directory called linux on his FTP server, as he did not like the name Freax. Linus like that directory name and he kept the name of his new OS to LINUX.

The Steves of APPLE Computers.

Social networks: An amazing platform for e-listings & auctions..

Lets say you have an extra guitar and you wanna sell it.. How would you go about it..?? MOst probably, you will try to spread the word around through your friends in your social network, see if someone you know is interested.. if no, then go to ebay like auction or craigslist type listing service...

Why..?? Well, if the transaction happens within your social network, both the transacting parties are winners.. the feeling of benevolence for the seller is a lot more pronounced when he knows the buyer personally, at the same time, for the buyer, the social bond translates to trust in transaction..

This is no rocket science. Its simple proven psychological behavior.. It really does surprise me that no social networking website or online auction website has productized this knowledge to reap insane profits..

Imagine you putting a listing on your MySpace/Facebook/Orkut profile for your spare guitar.. All your friends will know about it, they will pass on the word to their friends, someone intersted will contact you and the transaction will take place, MySpace/Facebook/Orkut will either charge you a fix amount to put up a listing or make money as percentage of transaction. Idea of ebay-like auction within social network can be worked out similarly as well..

Social networking is big today.. people have been pondering about how to make money out of em.. everyone believes there is a huge monetary opportunity there, but how is a question still to be answered. I think merging social networking with online auctions or listing services is defintely a promising avenue..

Chris DeWolfe, Pierre Omidyar/Meg Whitman.. Are you guys listning..?? :)

Are Today's Managers Tomorrow's Leaders?

Let's get some brainstorming started on this blog!

"Work" is stimulating experience. Enjoying work, managing work is key to success. Creativity is no doubt important, but its the power of communication that eventually takes people places. Very often we shall find that our biggest challenge at work is not dearth of ideas, but effectively communicating them to a receptive audience, and managing expectations.

So here's a relevant case (loosely-copied from HBS Online) about setting/managing expectations and the importance of communication.

"You are a new manager. You believe that one of your recently-hired junior developers is consistently under-performing. Now he/she is working on a large high-visibility project with great organizational impact. "

Is it time to supervise him (her) more closely? What do you think is the best course of action?
1. Try to identify the root cause of potential problems and alleviate them? "Let's Chat Mode"
2. Would you give him (her) decision-making independence?
3. Would you threaten him (her) with ultimatums for poor performance?
4. Would you diplomatically try to goad good performance out of him (her) through better training?

Employees are an organization's most valuable resource - they are the seat of creative intelligence. How you approach such situations can either make or break careers - wrong techniques can hinder your growth irreversibly.

Looking forward to your feedback guys....and I mean everyone!!! :-)