User Friendly Search
As a response to customer complaints and user confusion, I was tasked with designing a search feature that could be used easily by novice and self-service users. I also needed to create a guideline that was easy to implement and used interface and interactive elements that were part of the PeopleSoft development toolkit.

Below are the major design decisions I made to create a search feature that is a more effective experience for the novice user:

• Separated search fields and features into 2 classifications – Basic Search and Advanced Search. The Basic Search would contain fields and features that are commonly used. The Advanced Search would be hidden by default and would contain more complex features that are used less frequently.
  
  
  
• Button bar like area for the consistent placement of all buttons and links.
  
  
  
• The Save Search feature (a seldom used PeopleSoft Tool kit feature) that allowed users to save frequently-performed queries.
• Standard location and format for all instructional and error text.
  
  
  
• Standard format for all date fields.
• Implementation of six-column grid that would accommodate nearly every field and feature layout configuration.

Each Search Box guideline was written so as few or as many features can be applied as design constraints, schedule and budget allowed while still maintaining a search feature consistent across PeopleSoft products. I wrote the Search Box guideline to be used by both interaction designers and developers. The guideline was also meant to be an appendix to the PeopleSoft Standards and Guidelines documentation.

Over the course of 6 months, the search box design guideline was applied to the Manage Time, Approve Time, Manage Invoices, Manage Expences, Approve Expences, Manage Services Work Orders, Manage Requisitions and Approve Requisitions components in the Services Procurement and eProcurement products.