Welcome to SharePoint Saturday—The Conference

Why Your SharePoint Search SucksFRI-S2B-114

Michal PisarekHabanero Consulting Group

Welcome to SharePoint Saturday—The Conference Welcome to SharePoint Saturday—The Conference

• Please turn off all electronic devices or set them to vibrate.• If you must take a phone call, please do so in the hall so as not

to disturb others.• Open wireless access is available at SSID: SPSTC2011• Feel free to “tweet and blog” during the session• Thanks to our Diamond and Platinum Sponsors:

Thank you for being a part of the first SharePoint Saturday conference

Introduction Slide 1

• Born in Poland

Introduction 2

• But grew up in Australia

Went To University

• Graduated with computer science• Started a normal job• Quit it all, went around the world, landed in

vancovuer

Need Habanero Picture Now

• Got into SharePoint• Started my Blog• Became a MVP• Now I am here!

Get in Touch

michal.pisarek@gmail.com

Why does your

SharePoint

search suck?

The Business CaseThe Business Case for Search“Improved Search Experience”

“Intuitive Search” “Increased Findability”

“Google Like Search”

On or off switch

Why search matters

User ExpectationsSimpleFast

Relevant

1. Elicit Requirements2. Leverage Metadata3. Know and leverage

search capabilities4. Govern your search5. Train Users6. Constantly Refine and

Improve

Without

requirements and

involving end users your search will suck

Search RequirementsWhat business process does this map to?

What are the types of information users are looking for?

How often are they searching for?

How should content be ranked?

What is the value this provide?

How does this fit into the search vision?

Interviews

Workshops

Storyboards Prototyping

Job shadowing

Questionnaires

Gamestorming Ranking

Use Stories

Search Requirements

Good• “Decreased time to find

experts related to fiscal policy”• “Ability to find latest policy

updates from engineering”• “Less than 5 actions to find

content”• “Filter content by Author or

Date”

Bad• “Instant access to all our

content”• “Faster Search”• “Better Search”• “Google like search”

Requirements

Training

Types Skills

Configuration

OOTB Development

Governance Infrastructure

Physical Logical

You get what you

measure

Without effective, clear and

concise metadata your

search will suck

Metadata provides context

• Metadata is how users will understand search

Scopes

SortingAdvanced Search

People Matches

Refin

emen

ts

Results Display

Creating a taxonomy

Use Information Architects

Start Small

Leverage commercial products

Make entering metadata easier for users

Leverage Content Types

Make it simple

Without utilizing the many configuration options that SharePoint provides you your search

will suck

Value vs Effort

Effort vs Value in search

Custom Scopes

Metadata or Content Source Driven

Partition Content for improved results

• Metadata• Content Type• Content Source• Content Class

PeopleSiteLinksContactsAnnouncementsDiscussionsTasks

Best Bets and Keywords

Inject your own search intelligence

Applicable to any organization

Easily Configurable

Refiners

Super Powerful!

Amazingly Configurable

Metadata driven

Category Definitions

Refinement Web Part Options

Search FederationConsume External Results

Custom Results Pages

Custom Results Pages

Images blatantly stolen from Corey Roth, Matthew McDermott and Todd Carter

Add Ratings

View Folder

Customize results for different content

Thesaurus File

Expansion Sets• Synonyms• Conceptual

similaritiesReplacement Sets• Organizational

Name Changes• Title Changes• Slang (Crikey)• Acronyms

Search Suggestions

Pre-populate before launch

Can add your own easilySharePoint will automatically add suggestions

Advanced Search

Keep or Remove Options

For the love of God remove the languages you don’t use!!!!

Keep or Remove Options

Add additional metadata

What about FAST?

Rank Profiles

Content Extraction

User Contexts

Advanced Sorting

Linguistic Features

Deep Refinement

Visual Best Bets Sorting Thumbnails

Search Governance

Search Governance

Vision

Communication

Continuous Improvement

The operational stuff

Questions

How often?

What value?

How complex?

What purpose?

The Holy Grail – All Sites

• The All Sites scope is the Holy Grail• Nothing gets in it unless it has been proved to

provide value

“Keep the ‘All Sites’ scope sacred, do not tarnish it with filth, honor it and it will be good to you”

Without training your users your search

will suck

Search Training

Basic•Where to find search•What is being indexed•Searching for colleagues

Intermediate•Using Scopes•Using Refiners•Sorting

Advanced•Search Syntax Query•Desktop Federation•Alerts

Training Tips

Offer Multiple Formats

Use training to engage

Don’t assume users know how to use

search

Buy off the shelf training

Improving Search: A Neverending story

Make it a journey

Dedicate time to improving your search

Consider a dedicated search administrator (especially for FAST)

Consult your users

User Feedback

Search ReportingAnalytics Admin Reports

1. Elicit Requirements2. Leverage Metadata3. Know and leverage

search capabilities4. Govern your search5. Train Users6. Constantly Refine and

Improve

Questions?

Welcome to SharePoint Saturday—The Conference

Thanks to Our Other Sponsors!Thanks to our Sponsors

Welcome to SharePoint Saturday—The Conference

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