In this book, our taste for rhetoric and imagery may run amok. Adding color to the message can occasionally obscure its meaning. That is not our intent. So, for the sake of clarity, here are our beliefs and principles in plain language:
Search is a problem too big to ignore.
Size matters. Linear growth compels a step change in design.
Simple, fast, and relevant are table stakes.
One size won't fit all. Search must adapt to context.
Search is iterative, interactive, social, and multisensory.
Increments aren't enough. Even Google must innovate or die.
It's not just about findability. It's not just about the Web.
The challenge is radically multidisciplinary.
We must engage engineers and executives in design.
We can learn from the past. Library science is still relevant.
We can learn from behavior. Interaction design affords actionable results.
We can learn from one user. Analytics is enriched by ethnography.
Some patterns, we should break like a bad habit.
Search is a complex adaptive system.
Emergence, cocreation, and self-organization are in play.
To discover the seeds of change, go outside.
In science, fiction, and search, the map invents the territory.
The future isn't just unwritten—it's unsearched.
OK, so a rhetorical flourish or two infiltrated our manifesto. What can we say? They're sneaky little buggers! But our aim is clear. We are passionate about search. We believe it's far more interesting and important than most people realize. We aspire to get the design right and the right design through refinement and reinvention. We don't have all the answers. Neither do you. But as writers and designers, we are inventing the future of experience and discovery. We are the mapmakers. Together, we can make search better.