It was suspected that none of the participants would have bothered to work out how to use the tools shown to them had they been left alone. I'd press all the wrong keys if you left me alone. The authors believe that the key Internet misconceptions as described in this paper are both widespread and enduring. Evidence from subsequent trials has found that users are put off by the terms 'advanced search' or 'expert search' and seldom read 'hints and tips', believing these functions to be for experienced users. Search results should be returned to users as quickly as possible.
Users are much happier searching for information from hierarchical categories rather than keywords.
Search engines should aim to communicate the concept that searching on the Internet is a process rather than an event. It is relatively rare to find something useful as a result of a first search. An important design goal is therefore to engineer this view of search as a process into the interface itself. Intelligent support for users' search requests is clearly needed. For example, one participant searched for a reggae performer, Bitty McLean, but no entries were found because she had misspelled the name.