Reimagining image search

Yahoo      2011

What?

How might we help users search, discover and consume images in a relaxed, engaging and immersive way.

Why?

Frankenstein design 
Dated and inconsistent look and feel
Competition 
Bing search deal - need to differentiate
Web search traffic volume drop
User research insights

Goals

Provide best in class image search and consumption experience
Design that works seamlessly across devices 
Double the page views and time spent  
Increase query volume and maintain revenue 
Follow a data driven yet user centric design approach

Prior image search and consumption experience

lets add more features
Search results page
Image viewer page - post click experience

Phase 1 - innovate within constraints

Cleanup, differentiate and get the metrics right

Impact

layout optimized for quick scanning using face detection co-ordinates 
Increased user engagement on page - over 70% hovers
Differentiated discovery and consumption
Neutral Page views thanks to paginated navigation
Positive revenue - increased click on text ads
User testing revealed preference for infinite scroll
Related section was ignored - no additional query volume
left rail engagement was way low 0.01% - right use of real estate?

Impact

Edge to edge image grid layout - optimum use of screen real estate
Optimized image thumbnail size - high image CTR
Semi infinite scroll - making the right tradeoff
Related queries module placement below more images link - increased query volume
Loss of page views due to new navigation model - need to pivot

Immersive consumption experience

Experience optimized for image consumption and  speed.

Impact

Experience that users love and metrics to support it.
Time spent up by 7%
10x page view increase
Query volume increase
4x increase in revenue
Projects
User intent module
Showtimes
Local refresh
Data center automation