I'm trying a new kind of search navigation (sort of tag based) where a user selects already populated options (relationships and occasion) and search.
Already populated options are on the left side, some products (latest ones or on the basis of any preference) are on the right. The user selects the options from the left and hits the "find product" button. The right column gets updated with the search results.
Advantage: User gets options up front which means less burden while searching.
Disadvantage: It might be a new idea for the user so there could be a learning curve.
I want the community to evaluate this option before I push it in development. I'd appreciate if any of you can give any better example or have seen the same example anywhere.
I can use drop down, but I don't want to use it because it is boring and needs 1 click and scroll to see options.