Ten Search Implementation Success Factors

Compiled by Martin White
email: martin.white@intranetfocus.com

1. Excellent project management

From the outset a broad-based project team and a senior-level sponsor are essential because of the range of knowledge and skills required to develop the initial specification and then to evaluate the products.

2. Knowing what there is to be searched

The characteristics of the document collections that will be initially and potentially be indexed and searched need to be audited to a high level of reliability.

3. Understanding user requirements

The range of different search requirements from visitors/users depends on the purpose for which they are searching and their previous experience of searching. These requirements are best identified though the development of search personas and scenarios

4. Understanding the technology of search

All search software products index documents, run queries against the index and then present the results of the search to the user. Understanding how this is carried out is important in assessing the relative merits of each product.

5. Rigorous testing as part of the product evaluation

One outcome of the document audit should be a representative test collection of documents so that all the relevant functionalities of the search engine can be evaluated before any decision to purchase is made.

6. Anticipating scalability and extensibility issues

Most search implementations start small and then grow. The implications of scaling up need to be assessed at the outset and kept under continuous review

7. Assessing integration issues

The ease which a search engine can be integrated into, or with, other applications is not easy to determined in advance of the work being undertaken

8. Testing for usability

Providing a high degree of usability of the search interface is essential, and should be based around the search personas and scenarios developed in the specification phase.

9. Meeting changing user requirements

A search engine needs to be continuously monitored and tuned to ensure that search performance and changing user expectations and requirements are identified as quickly and unambiguously as possible, and feedback provided on the extent to which they can be met

10. Appreciating that ‘trust’ is the best metric of search performance

Effort has to go into developing and applying appropriate metadata, taxonomy and categorization schemes that enable the user to trust the search engine to either deliver the information being sought or confirm that no relevant information exists

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