Search UX design: query input, zero-results states, and result presentation
Forgiving autocomplete, search-as-navigation, results layouts and relevance ranking, faceted refinement, zero-results retention design, and search analytics (queries, refinements, abandonment)
- What
- Forgiving autocomplete, search-as-navigation, results layouts and relevance ranking, faceted refinement, zero-results retention design, and search analytics (queries, refinements, abandonment)
- Cost
- Free
- Needs
- a product with search (or one being built) to design or review — the skill is guidance the agent follows, not software to install
- Install
- Copy the installer prompt below into your Muse — your agent does the rest.
Curated by Skill Harbor — @owl-listener's search-UX skill: design the full retrieval experience — forgiving entry (descriptive placeholders, width signaling query length, autofocus, Enter-to-submit, clear/reset, completions after 2-3 characters with recents → trending → predicted, 5-8 suggestions max per Hick's Law, keyboard navigation, query-term highlighting) — search-as-navigation (navigational destinations in suggestions, exact-match pages first, never "no results" for destinations that exist), results presentation (list vs grid vs grouped-by-type, result counts, matched-field signaling, decision-enough snippets), ranking (recency, popularity, exact-title match, personalization with surfaced sort logic), faceted refinement (context-relevant filters with counts, individually removable, clear-all), the zero-results state treated as a retention moment (confirm the query, typo corrections, broader terms, browse/support alternatives — never a blank page), and search analytics (top queries, zero-result queries, refinement rate, click position, abandonment). Honest caveats: methodology only — it doesn't implement the search backend, only its UX; keep it on mobile too (search is often primary navigation there). MIT licensed. Skill Harbor never reviews the code, review it yourself before use. Discovered via skills.sh.
Version:
Install
Prerequisites: a product with search (or one being built) to design or review — the skill is guidance the agent follows, not software to install Install "Search UX design: query input, zero-results states, and result presentation" for me. It gives my agent @owl-listener's search-UX playbook: forgiving query input and autocomplete, search-as-navigation patterns, results layouts and ranking, faceted refinement, zero-results retention design, and search analytics (top queries, zero-result queries, refinement rate, click position, abandonment). MIT licensed. Repository: https://github.com/owl-listener/designer-skills/blob/main/interaction-design/skills/search-ux/SKILL.md 1. Fetch the SKILL.md file (and any helper files) from the repository path into a temporary folder and summarize what it does in one or two sentences. 2. Safety check: review the SKILL.md and scripts for anything suspicious (unexpected network calls, shell commands, credential harvesting). This repo should contain zero secrets in code, credentials only via the secure vault, allowed hosts declared in the SKILL.md. Verify that holds here; STOP on any red flag and tell me. 3. Install it as a skill: copy SKILL.md and its helper files into the agent's skills directory, in a folder named "search-ux". 4. Verify with no network calls: frontmatter valid, files in place. 5. Report what was installed, where, and what I still need to do myself (e.g. point the agent at the search experience to design or review; it covers the UX only, not the search backend — implement ranking and indexing separately). GitHub is optional: if I have a GitHub account or the gh CLI, you may use it; otherwise public access is fine. Never require it unless it's in the prerequisites above. Rules: don't touch anything outside the temp folder and the install target. If anything looks off, stop and ask me.
Questions
How do I install a build?
Every product page includes a copy-paste install prompt. Paste it into your Muse and it sets the build up for you — no manual configuration.
Where does my money go?
Straight to the seller. Skill Harbor never processes payments: checkout happens on the seller’s own page, usually Stripe.
What does the ✓ next to a creator’s name mean?
It means we confirmed the identity of the person behind the listing. It says nothing about the code itself — always check a build before installing it.