using pop-out tips to draw attention – kayak

The usage of these pop-out tips is increasing lately. This one on KAYAK is just one example.

recommendations – buzzilions.com

Example of a “recommendations” implementation above search results on buzzilions.com:

Messaging that there’s nothing else to refine by – B&N

Barnes & Noble are using Endeca for navigating their online catalog. For most part, their left nav is pretty standard, but they are on to something interesting with showing a special message when you reach the end of all possible refinements. It could use more work, but it’s an interesting idea.

best bets messaging, bizrate

Bizrate takes you to the best bet subcategory for your keyword search. I searched for “bike helmet” and they took me to the Bicycle Equipment subcategory. However, in case I want to expand my search or search elsewhere, they list other places on their site that have results for “bike helmet”. I like their wording and placement.

We do something similar, but we don’t do a very great job with the messaging right now. This is something we should work on improving:

neat account creation page

I really enjoyed the mint.com account creation page.

Here’s why:

1. It gave me feedback as I was working through it (filling out each field correctly was “rewarded” with a green OK icon). 

2. Unobtrusive marketing text on the right — it didn’t feel overwhelming, but I could have read it if I really cared.

3. Simple and light look and feel.