Searching and browsing are completely different styles of interaction. Search-based interfaces (like Google, Quicksilver, or the awesome bar), are very fast, they rely heavily on keyboard interaction, and they require you to know for the most part what it is that you are looking for. By contrast, browse-based interfaces (like Yahoo’s Directory, DMOZ, or Firefox’s Bookmarks Sidebar) are slow, rely heavily on mouse interaction , and are most effective when you only have a general idea what it is that you are looking for.
User interface designers usually differentiate between which interface, search or browse, is better suited for a particular task with the terms “recall” and “recognition,” referring to what is going on in the user’s mind. If the user is relying on recall, they are able to proactively retrieve what it is they want out of their memory. For instance, the traditional command line, is a recall, or search (with tab completion), based interface. In contrast, if the user is relying on recognition, they need to be able to see particular terms or objects on the screen before they are able to make a decision on what to do next. For instance, the standard GUI is fundamentally a recognition, or browse-based interface.
Often people focus more on the examples given than the fundamentally different aspects of the two types of interfaces, and assume that one type of UI is better than the other:
I used to use the command line, but then the GUI became popular, I hate remembering stuff, browse is better! Recognition beats recall!
I used to use the Yahoo Directory to find stuff on the Web, but then Google came out, I can quickly get to stuff, search is superior! Fast beats slow!
Or, in the case of the Firefox UI: I used to use the bookmarks sidebar to access things, but now I just use the awesome bar, it’s so much faster, search is the future!
But battling the different interface examples against each other somewhat misses the point. It isn’t about which interface, search or browse, is better than the other, it’s about which is a better match for the user’s particular task, and which is a better match for the user’s mind. So it is critical to provide the user with both, and to make sure that both are extremely well designed. The Web browser UI has a lot of useful core controls for browsing information, a home control to take you back to the beginning, back and forward to explore a timeline of recent navigation, and a location bar lets you jump directly to an entirely new destination. These controls could be really useful for browsing history and bookmarks, in addition to browsing Web pages. So I believe we should fully integrate bookmarks and history into the Web browser interface.
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