How do young people find things? Only by searching?!

[KeegansCreation]

tl:dr  I wish Zazzle would let customers confine a search to the department/ product category they are already in.

I am at the older end of middle aged. I find things on my computer and on websites (other than Google) primarily by using directories and drill downs, going to Search only when that fails me. Zazzle is optimized for this with beautifully nested subdirectories, drill downs and filters (I love this, please don't ever take it away). So I find Zazzle easy to navigate. The problems with search are a near-daily topic in the forums. When I comment on these threads, I am less concerned than the other posters (sometimes even dismissive, sorry 😞) because drill downs and filters tend to solve these search problems.

But then I read this article https://medium.com/macoclock/a-word-on-the-verges-file-not-found-f81afaac231e    and the article it links at the beginning which says that me finding things through directories and drilldowns is because I'm middle aged. It says that young people find things primarily and sometimes exclusively through search.

I started using computers in the era of the command line. Punch cards were being phased out though I did learn to use them for a couple classes. There was no public internet and the founders of Google were in elementary school (I searched to find that out). Eventually personal computers became affordable and ubiquitous. Directory and folder-based UI was introduced and was a smash hit. The internet became public and it had directories too. Search was barely functional but directories were awesome. Me and every computer user became fluent with folders and directories.

Then we stayed there with our folder and directory fluency but the world moved on and search functionality improved to the point that the newest generation could use it entirely if they so desired and relying on drill downs was their parents' (and grandparents') way of finding things.

Back to Zazzle. I tried to search Zazzle as though I was a young person using only search. I'm starting Christmas shopping so I search on 'ornaments'. It brings me to the ornaments page with many nice categories. The 'glass' category looks intriguing so I click on it. They look great. I'll get a golf one for my uncle. Because I initially searched on 'ornaments', that's already in the search bar so I add "golf". This brings up many golf things, some of which aren't ornaments and none of which are glass. (Zazzle search treats each word individually so non-ornament things get in and glass ornaments are new so not high in the algorithm). So I search 'glass golf ornaments' and this is successful but that's a lot of typing.

This would have been so much easier if, like reddit, I had a tick box that let me confine my search to the department I'm already in. Since I was already in glass ornaments, I'd tick the box and 'golf' would only be searched for within glass ornaments.

[alissag]

I remember a year or two ago, a college professor who had a similar observation about students. During some sort of assignment the students were struggling because the only way they knew how to find a file on their computer was by searching for it, rather than just as you and I (and are fellow olds) do and just go to the folder or location where we know the file is. Search and its unreliability is a problem on lots of websites these days. That big shopping website that starts with an A has real problems with this. Unless you know exactly down to the specific brand name what you want it is very difficult to locate products on their website. At least Zazzle's search is still pretty functional.

[Cat]

Well that's fascinating! No one would refer to me as a "young person" (unless it was like a waiter or someone looking for a really big tip!) but I use search almost exclusively rather than drilling down. Mostly this is because I'm lazy! It's not that I won't resort to a drill down if I really need to find a particular thing and search isn't bringing it up, but in general when I'm shopping online or even looking for files on my computer I search for it first. I think I got into the habit with Windows 10 because it's just soooo much easier.

Seriously though, I often wish that life came with a search function because the chances of me actually remembering where I put something are rather small - like I'm sure it made sense when I put it there, but my brain doesn't ever seem to be able to re-create the same logic it used when I decided where to put the thing in the first place! I'm one of those people who owns like 25 pairs of scissors because I can NEVER find them when I need them! Hmmm...... Wondering what all this says about me, and about young people!

[PAZP]

@Cat  said "my brain doesn't ever seem to be able to re-create the same logic it used when I decided where to put the thing in the first place!" 

I don't have 25 pairs of scissors but I have one (or two) in all the rooms where I might use them and in the garage too. And in those rooms I THINK it's in a logical place UNTIL I can't find it. 🤣😂

[Cat]

Well, there's a pair of scissors somewhere in the debris on my desk at the moment! Along with a flashlight, a tape measure, some hand lotion, the cat's brush, yadda yadda yadda. I seem to live by the motto "Never put anything away if you want to find it again!" 😂

[BKMuir]

I remember the days when Boolean logic allowed searches to be streamlined/narrowed down.

I want to see 
"glass ornaments AND golf" or "glass ornaments NOT golf"

Also, one could search for various words NEAR other words.

As things stand today, I get somewhat better results using Quote Marks - "glass ornaments"-  to narrow down the results rather than - glass ornaments. The latter brings up everything with GLASS as well as everything with ORNAMENTS. The former brings up only those hits that have BOTH of the search terms (glass ornaments). It may be a glass of orange juice sitting on a tray in front of a tree with ornaments on it, but it does have both terms.

[Windy]

I believe that what OP has described here is exactly why Zazzle appeals to older users, and is why younger users prefer to shop other PODs. This would be fine if us old people were not dying. Zazzle may wish to change search if Zazzle has any dreams of attracting a younger audience and wants to replace the shoppers approaching the end of their lives.

[chefcateringbiz]

I'm in my 60s and I always do searches. I hate menus and filters of all kinds, they don't understand me like I understand me.

[Barbara]

I'm in my seventies and started using computers when MS-DOS hardly existed. Back then, you either knew where an item was or you spent a lot of time sorting through directories. Along came the internet, and then Google showed up, giving us the blessing of Boolean logic. Such precision has since deteriorated, probably for advertising reasons.

All told, I use both methods for searching, my favorite situation being when I can drill down just a bit and then use search to find precisely what I want. This, I think, is where Zazzle falters somewhat.

I've an uncanny ability to visualize where I last saw any specific object in my home, which is odd given that I never know where anything is when out driving, and if I get into a large building, I'm almost instantly lost. Nothing to do with age. When I was around twenty, I got lost in a library.

Colorwash's Home

[Cherie]

I'm sorry, I just had to add that I laughed at the scissors!!! I have put scissors in six different places in my home and one in the garage because I never can remember where I put them last! Oh, wait, seven places, forgot about the sewing cabinet!! I thought it was just me! 😂

[PAZP]

It's a lot easier than running around to other rooms too. 😂

[Cat]

I feel so understood!