If a search results in only one item on the search results page, should I save the user’s time by immediately redirecting him/her to the searched item, or let the user see the list before moving on?
P.S. It is kind of related to this question, however, this question is more generic and I find that that question lacks better answers.
Letting the user know that there's not much useful information found is useful information.
If you don't show the search results list in case there's only one result, you save the user some time – but I doubt the user will actually appreciate it. The user basically doesn't know whether there's only one result – or if there's an inconsistency in how the search works. Sometimes he/she sees a list of results, sometimes he/she's redirected to a content page.
So I would suggest you better save yourself some time and don't add that feature.
Do not auto-redirect user. Remember to let the user have the control on your sites. Make them the ruler of your site.
The user might also want to revise their search terms. As a user, when I tried to search for common items and got 1 result, I might feel something wrong with my search terms. I would tried to generalize the search terms.
On another case, the only result might not be the one I'm looking for. Of course I don't want to be redirected to that page.
Overall, it's best to let user choose what they want to do with the search results
This is a general principle but it's especially true for consumer-facing sites where users may be new or have varying levels of familiarity.
For user search, a typical workflow involves starting with an idea, doing a search, iterating, and then achieving an end result:
Search users often iterate several times before arriving at a solution, and they may adjust the search in different ways (choose another result, go back and adjust search terms, or go back to ideation and rethink what they want).
When you break consistency, you risk creating disorientation in this workflow because a user may change a search term and get no results page.
back button (or re-enter a different search term if the box is persistent), but you've already caused disorientation because the same mini-workflow has created very different results.For this reason, it's usually presumptuous design to assume the user wants to be redirected straight to the result. Search is not always a linear workflow for users, so consistency is more important than convenience most of the time.
If you are worried about blank space on the page with just one result, there are other layout approaches to improve the experience (this is one of the reasons elastic dropdown search boxes are popular nowadays)
It also depends on the kind of search, for example if the user is searching for a customer number in a CRM. When entering that number while on the phone with a customer, the number is unique and the user expects one match. He/she will probably find the result list redundant. A partial number may return the search list for further exploration.
Wikipedia does this if you search for an article with the exact name of your query unless you navigate to the full search results. This is useful because the user will most likely want to visit that page directly if they know the title. This could also be useful on places where you're trying to search for an exact name like that of a game or movie. If the results are about things with specific names, redirect the user.
Examples where this would be useful: Wikipedia, IMDB, Steam, an app store
If your search is designed for a topic among a set of blog posts or websites where the actual title isn't of much importance, redirecting should not happen. If you do a search on Google and there happens to be a result with the exact same title as your query, it would not be useful in most cases to redirect the user. The distinction here is that the search is designed for content rather than titles.
Examples where this would be useful: Google, Amazon, blog, forum
This is useful in both of the cases presented above. In cases like Google, it can help you avoid extra typing and even help you figure out how to word your search. This still brings you to a search results page but it can still be a helpful feature. It can also be useful in cases like Wikipedia, Steam, or Amazon where it can bring you quickly to a specific page. There can also be an option at the bottom which users can click to bring them to an actual search results page so they can maintain control over their search.
As has already been expressed in other answers on here, the reasons not to redirect include:
Google did make a move in the direction of instant redirects with the "I'm feeling lucky" button that takes the user directly to the top result for their search string but they still use the more regular search behaviour as the default (when the users hits return or enter on the keyboard rather than clicking a button on screen)
I would love to say I'm 100% sure of this. But, as a user I would still expect to see the result list. I did a search, nothing in the UI is telling me that only 1 search result is found. If I am redirected right away to the only result, it my be confusing as I'm not sure if I did the search in the first place.
This very however, very dependant on what search we're referring to. If we're searching in a system which has a limited number of items with obvious differences it might be fine.
However the best implementation would be to show results before the user completes the search aka Auto complete.
I've run into this issue before and I actually have a different answer. In my case, the list of items is that user's own list, so keep that in mind.
I do redirect the user automatically, but include a notice at the top of the page informing the user that "There was only 1 record which matched, so you were automatically directed to it. Click Here to see the list anyway."
So yes, I do redirect them, but I also tell them why, and give them an option to go back anyway. I believe this is the best of both worlds, as it minimizes clicks 99% of the time, but still keeps the user 100% informed and in control.
As others have noted, you want the user to be in control and fully aware of their site flow. On the other hand, the system should know more about what's available than the user. That's what computers are for, right? The system knows, for example, that if they would only have changed one word in the search, they'd get 5x the results.
The concept of recommendations in e-comm sites is squarely aimed at the problem you're facing. Sometimes there aren't many results, and that may be just what the user was after. However, the system also knows that people who look in that sparse corner of the site tend to be interested in other information as well.
Give the user what they asked for, whether it's 1000 results or 0. But, you can append "similar" or "related" searches in a clearly messaged and defined space. Let them know "this is not what you searched for, but we think you'll like it".
I agree with the above answers in general to not do it. However, there are always exceptions.
If you search in the JIRA (issuetracker) webapplication, you get the list of results, unless you directly type an issue key (in the form of PRJ-123). In that case, it would be annoying to show the list, since as a user you expect to exactly match 1 issue.
If the user is searching by a particular unique identifier (and it's expected that most users would know/use these identifiers regularly), then redirecting a single result to the detail page would be acceptable. For example, if I'm searching for a user story in Rally, I expect the search to take me directly to the story if I type in US12345, but I also expect to go to a search list if I use keywords, even if only one result exists. If a story should be linked to another (e.g. US12347), I'd use the relationship system built in so that searching on US12345 would show the one result, and the successor area would show US12347 as a related item. If I had wanted to go to US12347, I would have searched for it directly.
This is a specific example, but it outlines the fact that sometimes it's acceptable to go right to the detail page. For example, searching by an account number, or another unique record identifier (such as above), you can go to the page. At any other time, give the user a list, even if there's only one result. As an acceptable alternative, you might also provide a Google-esque "I'm Feeling Lucky" option, where the option goes right to the first match. Users might use this if they know their particular search result just right (of course, indexing may change over time, so this might not always be the best idea, but at least the user has an option).
No! As a user, I may want to revise my search terms, or not be happy with the result of this action. Also, I may want to click on that "Did you mean?" link. Finally, I may be (rarely, but possibly) infected by malware. See action diagram below:
The best thing to do is to let the user pick the result, even if it's only one (ignore the case).
See example:
Enter search term:How to walk my dog without a leash?
Recommended search: How to walk my dog without a belt?
Results (1):
Walk your dog without a leash
Learn how to walk your dog without a leash at DogTuts.org!
Wouldn't you like to revise your search term in such case? You can add an option, though.
