Search and Explore

Dynamic Search Flow: We aimed to design a search and explore tab whose flow was dynamic, smooth, and easy to understand. Between the different ways to find, evaluate, and decide upon locations, we had to create a solution that seamlessly integrates the map and location information previews. The relationship between the two were varied, with use cases where one would take precedence over the other, such as when a user is more familar with a location's map context, but they still need the location information to confirm the match. When a user first enters the search tab, they will be presented with three options (i.e. search, map, and discover). From there, they can choose depending on their specific needs (see screen 1).

Discover Content: The discover preview can be tapped on or slid up to show the entire list. Discover is curated location content for when e.g. persona John wants to pass time during this break at work (see 1–2). The idea was in its beginning stages, as implementation would happen in the future, rather than for the MVP app. The mockup was created to give our marketing team a better idea of where the content would be accessed and began our exploration into the global weather product direction. We helped the marketing team brainstorm ideas for this area including a weather blog, weather articles, featured locations, current weather events around the world, and current BloomSky events.

Map Exploration: The user can pan on the map without searching, in the case that e.g. the user wants to broadly see the weather conditions for a nearby custom area. Doing so will cause the discover preview to slide down to minimize itself and maximize the map viewing area. On the map, each location pin designates a weather station or city center. These pins contains a temperature reading and, in the future, a small snapshot of the area there. Tapping on a location pin will slide up a location preview to help the user confirm their choice or continue exploring (see 3–4). Tapping on the list icon in the top-right hand corner will pull up a list of the locations currently shown on the map, in the case that the user would like to compare multiple locations in the area quickly (see 7–8). The user can also pull up from a location preview to see the list.

Search Suggestions: Tapping on the search bar will bring up a keyboard as well as predefined locations of Current Location and the user's recent searches. As the user types, they will get recommendations based on their previous searches, frequent searches, high-volume searches, distance from their current location, and text matching ratio (see 5–6). The search suggestions will include station name, city—and in the future, business name, neighborhood, street, zip code, county, state, country, and continent. Providing predefined locations and search suggestions would aid the user in finding their location as quickly, easily, accurately, and with as few errors as possible to address the previous problem of frequently returning a search with no results.

Map and List Results: After, the user will be presented with a map preview as well as a list of results ordered by relevance to their search, so the user can 1. quickly compare different locations based on their search criteria, 2. see alternative locations and avoid searching dead ends if no exact match was found in the database, and 3. relate map location to textual information and increase the accuracy & speed of finding a location. Scrolling the list will highlight the corresponding marker on the map, to indicate its map location to the user (see 7–8). In addition to viewing the map and list, the user can tap on the full-screen icon in the top-right hand corner to maximize the map, allowing them to fine-tune the area of search based on the map (see 4).

Search Result Logic and Labeling Strategy: Search results will be ordered by 1. city, if a city name was searched, 2. the user's locations (i.e. followed locations and purchased stations), if relevant to the search, and 3. locations in the order of distance from search location center and popularity. Location previews show relevant information to help the user determine whether or not they want to view more about the location. Information had been focused and rearranged from the previous design solution, as content and labels did not provide relevant or clear information, adding to visual noise and user confusion (e.g. distance from user's location was irrelevant). Each type of location has a varied, yet uniform information arrangement to provide the most relevant information (see 7–8). All weather stations will have their station name, most recent photo, followings, and short description, if provided. Business weather stations will also have their full addresses. Personal weather stations will show its neighborhood and city only. Cities will show their city name and a preview collage of four photos. Third-party data cities will have an icon instead of a photo collage, which third-party data cannot provide. A user's purchased stations and followed locations will show an icon to communicate its special status, as well as its nickname, if provided.