Primer search bar redesign

Primer build machines that can read and write, automating the analysis of very large datasets. Primer’s technology is deployed by some of the world’s largest government agencies, financial institutions, and Fortune 50 companies. Their mission is to accelerate our understanding of the world.

The most used feature of the site needs to enable users to search from anywhere and add quick filters to key words before running a query.

Research

The first step involves creating an in product user survey to discover their general behaviors while using the app.

Key Findings

Most Users already have a task in their mind before using Primer App.​​​​
Majority of the users only use the Desktop version.
Some Users wished the interface was simpler and more straight-forward.​
Some Users experienced friction with the search UI.
Some Users found the App laggy and poorly optimized.

research

Redesign Effort

After identifying the current pain points using the process above, We concluded that the search component and the filters elements are affecting user experience in the Primer app and decided to redesign these two elements.

How

• More emphasis and clear visibility of the Search Bar
• Search History / Recent Search queries
• Auto suggest as you type feature
​• Clear and neat search bar with filtering properties

Sketches and Wireframes

The decision whether to Integrate the filters to the search bar was one of the first UX/UI decisions taken into the project.

Prototypes

With the selected features, we created lo-fi and hi-fi prototypes and conducted two sessions of usability test with 8 participants.

What did we improve

Here is a comparison of the previous app and the revised design. We have highlighted the different features that enhance the usability and user experience of the Primer app.

Key Learnings

This project helped me to get a deeper understanding of Primer user personas and get a better understanding of user motivations, behavior, needs and goals. Some of the areas where we could have improved would be developing a user journey map to build empathy and address pain points and areas of improvement. 

Overall it was a great experience working with a team of 5 talented individuals. This project was a great learning curve and it’s important to always ‘trust the process’.