Searching in iOS apps typically works one of two ways: you either have a dedicated Search tab, or the table view in some other tab includes a search field at the top. In both cases, the field is at the top for a good reason: as you start typing, it’s useful to see search suggestions or quick results in a list below.
Not every app is made up of stock table-views and tab bars. Getting a bit more custom with the UI is cool. However, breaking user expectations isn’t. Here’s what I mean. On the left is the first view in the super-handy Amazon Mobile app.
On the right is the view you get when you tap the search field in the first view. Trippy, huh? The starting view promises that it includes a search field, and that when you tap it you will begin to type in it. But it’s all an illusion; that’s not a search field at all. It’s an active area which, when tapped, displays another, differently laid-out view. It’s a button.
Here’s another example. While it’s not technically a search field, it sure tries to look like one, and it suffers from the same problem as Amazon’s app. On the left, the welcome screen of the Goodreads app.
On the right, the view you get when you tap “What page are you on?” It’s unrelated in pretty much every imaginable way: different position, background, field shape, font, width…
Both of these “work”. The camouflaged buttons perform as buttons, and the user will indeed end up doing what they set out to do. But they will be confused in the process, because they expect fields to function as fields: you tap them and type into them, there and then.
How can this be fixed? In Amazon’s case, the search field should be a real search field, glued to the top of the view. The Amazon logo is redundant and not useful; the “Welcome.” text is almost charmingly dull. This solution assumes Amazon wants to keep the search field in this first view at all; it already has a dedicated tab. Goodreads should redesign the page-number control completely. It’s a unique case and it should be styled and engineered uniquely. Integrate the actual functionality of the second, dark view into the first screen, showing the note area below after you tap? This is an opportunity to create an exciting new design.
It would be hard to argue that either of these designs is a marvel of usability today. They should be changed not because Apple says or does so, but because they miscommunicate their intent and interaction.
