It’s not new that search giant Google conducts numerous tests every year on its interface and search results. These tests are done in two ways – showing experimental features to a portion of the traffic in live environment, or showing the experimental features to UX raters in the Google labs. Seems, Google was running a number of tests on live traffic in 21 June. So far, we have found out about two new experimental features. One is a search interface without a sidebar. Another is a pop-up feedback form asking users about the quality of the results.
The sidebar-less search interface was reported by tecno-net. The search interface is similar to those of Android tablets. The sidebar has been placed under the search box. Options will appear according to filters applied, similar to sidebar filters. Watch the video below to learn how that works.
The pop-up feedback form was reported by nathansauser. The form asks the users about how satisfied they are about the results delivered. The form offers five options to select from – very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. If implemented, this crowd sourced information could be used for improving search quality.
Source: techno-net, nathansauser
