**⚠️ This task is work in progress.** It consolidates new specifications for an improved search experience in the Wikipedia app.
## What are the problems we are trying to solve?
1. **Inconsistency:** The current search experience in the app is not inconsistent and misleading for users.
- Search in `Explore` via search bar or magnifier glass leads users to the global search. Search in `Article` works the same way.
- Search in `My lists` searches list names and articles in lists (T188333).
- Search in `History` searches the users history.
Even though the search scope and functionality is different, the iconography that is used remains the same.
2. **Reachability:** Search is the most used feature in the app, but it’s physically one of the hardest/furthest to reach on a touch device. The search bar on Explore is positioned in the top area of the device and the icon/button is positioned in the app bar.
3. **Intelligence:** The current search experience is limited in its capability to suggest relevant results for the user. It does not include results from `My lists`, `History`, `Open tabs` and `Other languages` that are set in the app.
## Hypothesis
The **hypothesis** for the efforts in this task is that users **do not find what they’re looking for in the app and therefore choose to search via another origin** (e.g. performing a Google search). Details about the users origin can be [seen here ](https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/F31951319) ([image courtesy of @Dbrant on Slack](https://wikimedia.enterprise.slack.com/files/W013B49LHS9/FHC17MESX/image.png)).
## What are the goals?
- **The antidote to Google:** The improved search behavior should encourage more users to search via app, rather than performing a search with their browser.
- **Wikipedia as a search machine:** With this update, the Wikipedia app becomes a ”search machine”, the right result is presented at the right time. The user’s search experience becomes more consistent, intelligent and easier to reach.
## What this task is not
This task is not about trying to alternate the existing server side search algorithm used in the app. It is about finding ways to improve the search experience on the client side.
## To explore / consider
- Incorporate results from `My lists`, `History`, `Open tabs` in search, similar to a web browser. Two directions to explore:
- Mixed results lists, most relevant results are shown first
- Separate list results, e.g. results from `Wikipedia` and results from `My lists, History and Open tabs`
- What is the search results logic?
1. `Saved` in all app languages
2. `History` in all app languages
3. `Open tabs` in all app languages
3. `Wikipedia` in main app language
4. `Wikipedia` in other app languages
- A tooltip that introduce the new search functionality in the main navigation. Copy:
- `New search includes results from your history, open tabs, saved articles and Wikipedia.`
- Keeping the search field on `Explore` as it’s used often.
- Icons vs. no icons to indicate source of a result
- What happens when results overlap e.g. `My lists` and `History` ? Is it only shown once?
- Consider that `My lists, History and Open tabs` are language independent, whereas the current search in the app is language agnostic (limited to the current language)
- Incorporate results from `other app languages`, e.g. suggest results from other app language that users have set when there are no results.
- Offer more opportunities to search in `other app languages`, e.g. by not making it exclusive
- Move `Search` in `Explore`, `My lists` and `History` from app to tab bar (similar to iOS), as it’s physically easier to reach.
- Use `Search` as the label and magnifying glass as the icon.
- Should tapping the search icon in the main tab bar trigger the keyboard right away to offer a direct and easy to reach search experience?
- Should search icons in the app bar be removed completely
- Move `Search` in the `Article` from app bar to tool bar (bottom), as it’s physically easier to reach
- Use `History` as empty state of `Search`, remove recent searches.
## First visuals
| {F31947024} | {F31947026} | {F31947028} | {F31947030}