Do users need to filter search results?

Question

I’m working on a ~100 page site for a financial services company, and was wondering if I need to include filtering on their search results page. I have prominent functionality to modify a search and sort results, so wouldn’t a user just use that if the original search didn’t return what they were looking for? Or for this kind of experience, would users spend the time filtering and digging through the results instead?

Answer 1

I will say, let give the control to the user. Do user testing before development and once develop, check the usage and adjust the page.

Answer 2

You could test it with real users because it depends on case to case. Many e-commerce websites do this and it is really useful and immersive. But it depends on what people search and what they expect to see and it also depends on the results. Do i get 20 - 30 results if i type : "shoes" ? Do I get 30 shoes of different colors, brands, sizes ? Is that the result I was expecting and now i need to go through them ? Please let me filter. Is the result two pairs of shoes ? Then I don't need filters. So the short answer is it depends on a few factors.

Answer 3

General, the placement of the filter results page depends on many reasons, like the type of website, the audience, the amount of content.

Financial as a bit type of website so I believe that it is important to include not only the search option but also to include the filtering on their search results page. On the one hand, you can include an auto-suggestion mechanism, which is a powerful tool and can help to reduce the data input. The auto-suggestions results can be broken down into categories. If your autocomplete suggestions work well, then help the user articulate better search queries.

Another one point to get out the results page.. With the results page, you can help users input their input search data as quickly, accurately and easily as possible. Your goal here should be to deliver the most accurate search results in a legible and easy-to-digest fashion. The results page is a crucial piece of the search experience because it represents an opportunity to engage in a dialogue that guides' information needs.

Here is an example of the search page results, Financial Times website.