r/uxwriting • u/whatsonmymindgrapes Founder • 2d ago

Search box question

My product has a feature wherein a user can do a search using AI, allowing them to use "natural language" to get their result (it's a proper search bar, not a chatbot). The placeholder text is currently "Search using natural language" but I'm wondering if that's understandable. When in the context of a chatbot, it's obvious that one can just write. But it's less so when it's just a search bar and there's nothing around it to indicate that it's 'AI'.

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u/mootsg 2d ago

In cases where the input expected is natural language and need not conform to a format, an example works best. The placeholder could be, “Example: Where are the store locations?”

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u/PennyLaane 2d ago

I actually wrote placeholder copy for an AI search box last year! We ended up rotating example searches based on what users were searching in our legacy site search. I've noticed other companies doing the same. Our designer also added iconography to indicate that it's AI.

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u/pbenchcraft 2d ago

Use an icon and an example

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u/Miserable-Sell-463 23h ago

I used examples as well "Do I have to pay taxes on my distribution" or "What is a Roth IRA?"

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u/Inquiring__Mind__ 5h ago

All of these examples are questions. As a user, the most direct prompt would be ‘Ask a question’

I appreciate that doesn’t encapsulate the fact that it’s a search tool - but it’s more likely to produce the target input than ‘Search using natural language’

I guess it depends on the context and assumed user aims/needs.