Tnanks for dropping by. SQLnet seems like a neat idea. I also checked out the search-for-features on Zoho writer. That is a good idea as well.

Interesting post. At AdventNet, we have a couple of interesting products related to this. The first is SQLOne Search http://sqlone.com which is a way to provide a search interface to a set of relational databases. We apply algorithms to extract the navigational information present in the database (using foreign keys and such), and use that to perform search. We can also generate join queries using that search interface. In effect, it can be used as an alternative mechanism to generate queries.

From an end user perspective, we are experimenting with a search based UI in our Zoho Writer product http://zohowriter - here, we augment a typical toolbar/menu with a “Search your feature” box. The user can guess at something, and it will list the related commands, and when the user makes a selection, it will directly go to the relevant screen. This is an alternative to deeply nested menus.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Regards,

Sridhar Vembu

Good point. Thanks also for the pointer to some interesting blogs.

1. Overall, i think i did not do a good job in the introduction. To clarify, I am merely talking about the low-context, low-semantic queries that the READ part of OLTP systems fulfill (what i referred to in the post as “basic information retrieval needs”) . I was planning to write a separate post on that so that it becomes clearer as to what i am talking about. Your comments have hastened the need for that.

2. What Google has shown us, is that mostly your information retrieval needs can be fulflled by a simple search interface. For people looking for information that has a lot of context and semantics, they need to use better, more sophisticated tools. Although Google may not be the first company to build a Simple UI, I think it has certainly turned the spotlight back on simplicity.

3. Now, if you look at traditional UI design inside enterprises, you tend to clutter up your interfaces with WIMPs because you are trying to make sure that the high-context, high-semantics task can be accomplished. This results in forcing the person with simple needs to learn a complex UI. In the olden days, command-line interfaces accomplished this beautifully. If you had an advanced need, you could use more parameters on the command line. Of course, GUIs definitely improve productivity and we can’t really go back to the command line. But, you can definitely try not to stuff the Complex UI down the throats of simple user needs.

4. Additionally, my point is, if you adopt Search as the unifying UI for all your simple information needs from OLTP systems, you can probably focus your UI design on more complex needs.