We've blogged about this problem before (In my blog post "Color Me Confused," )--but still no resolution.
An Ancestry.com staffer did reply to my post regarding searches on Ancestry.com's immigration database that were more specific and resulted in "too many matches."
The problem is still there--and the searches are still not working in a consistent fashion.
The search for:
- first name sop*
- last name tra*
- arrival year 1870+/- 10
Has too many matches--as shown below:
The search for:
- first name sop*
- arrival year 1870+/- 10
Does not have too many matches--as shown below:
I've had readers privately tell me that this isn't really a problem.
It is.
The first search is the more restrictive search--at least in the way I interpret searching. The more search terms that are entered, the more limiting the search. The first search is most limited and yet receives too many matches to display. The less restrictive search does not return this result.
Why does it matter?
Because if the search interface does not respond in the way it should, how can I effectively construct searches?
And, how do I know that other searches are working properly?
It's great when a search gives me what I'm looking for. That makes for "a good customer experience." But when I don't find something after conducting searches, it leaves me wondering if it's something I'm overlooking or if the search is not working properly. And when I perform my genealogy research, I'm not interested in a "good customer experience."
I'm interested in things that work they way they should--that's a "good customer experience" for me.
2 comments:
As far as I am concerned this search results issue has been an issue for many years. And, today, my experience, is that it is only going south, as in degrading, day by day.
Seriously, it makes Ancestry look silly and lame. And, they don't get it.
I am currently a dues paying member, but, I took two years off and ya know, I did not miss the frustration of the ill acting search engines.
You are right about that Carol--this really isn't anything new. Most of us have known about these issues for some time. In some cases a person can create workarounds and in some cases they can't.
I'm not certain that they get it either. It makes for an occasionally frustrating customer experience, at least for me--and I'm certain a few others as well.
As FamilySearch offers more and more free material the "need" for Ancestry.com's access to things isn't as great as it was. It would seem to me, that creating an effective search would be a really good marketing tool.
But then again, I wasn't a marketing or business major in college--so what do I know?
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