A new and improved version of our auto-complete went out today. This was quite a significant change which Marta had been working on for some time. Although it seems like a pretty small part of the application we identified it as a key aspect in the usability of the product and we think that the changes will help guide users quickly to the clinics that they are looking for.
Key to the improvement is dramatically increasing the number of names that the auto-complete will accept and cleaning them up to be consistent. We also now ignore the first word that is entered if it isn't in our dictionary. For example if you type 'cheap bridge' we know to ignore 'cheap' as it is not in our dictionary and our auto-complete will prompt you to select 'bridge'. As you type the letters that match are automatically highlighted so that the you can easily see the treatments that match your query.
The query box now also accepts a variety of different inputs
- Treatment desired – i.e. 'face lift'
- Problem that needs addressing – i.e. 'missing teeth'
- Synonyms for the above
- Misspellings for the above
- Name of Clinic
- Name of staff member
No doubt there will be further changes once we have enough data to analyse how the changes affect users interaction with the site.
