In a dedicated area on the page, additionally to the primary navigation on the top, users are presented with a drop-down. They can specify what exactly they’d like to do on the website, or what they are looking for. Once one option is selected, another drop-down appears, allowing them to specify their intent even further.

This experience mimics the drill-down navigation with multiple levels. Yet the difference is that users are making small decisions, one after another, without being confronted with the entire navigation at every step of the way.

The user fills itself the needs

In fact, nobody wakes up in the morning hoping to finally compare products by features in a comparison table matrix. As customers, we actually want to find out what a better option is, yet we need to do quite a bit of work to get there.

A-Z Index Pattern: by listing all keywords on a single page mostly because users can use in-browser search to look something up quickly without having to go and explore multiple pages.

Tap-Ahead autocomplete pattern:

Rather than focusing on a list of keywords, the autocomplete actually provides an overview of items that the users might be looking for.

Tap-ahead minimizes the amount of effort needed for typing, but also drives customers to relevant results and gives them the confidence that they are actually on the right track.

If you are designing an interface for expert users, perhaps slightly more advanced ways to use search might be reasonable. Stackoverflow allows its users to specify a filter right in the search box, without having to rely on filters, tags, or any other modes of navigation.