Yandeks.Kartinki: time for change

Today we launched a new interface for Pictures - while in the experiment mode. Now only a part of our users can see the new interface. If you also want to try it, you can join the experiment in the settings .

The launch of a new interface is an important event for our entire team. Behind it is the work of many of our colleagues: managers, analysts, developers, marketers and designers. Today we want to tell why we decided to make a new interface and how we were guided.

A good interface allows a person to quickly and easily achieve the goal with which he came to the site. But over time, user needs change. This is due to changes in the structure of the Internet audience and the development of the Internet as a whole. For example, according to the Public Opinion Foundation, in recent years, the Runet’s audience has grown up a little, women have begun to use the Internet on an equal basis with men. Now users log on to the network almost every day and more often from home, and not from work, as it was several years ago. The Internet has become a familiar means of communication and entertainment. In Yandex.Kartinki these changes are especially noticeable on the subject of requests. For example, there are more “adult”, “female” and “entertaining” requests: about home improvement, repairs, interior design, children's products, fashion and beauty, funny pictures.
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In order to get a complete picture of the tasks of users, we conducted a study. To do this, we analyzed several million random search sessions. All of them were divided into groups, each of which included sessions with similar user behavior. We have five such groups, or clusters.

The largest group consisted of short sessions: users went to the service to quickly search for pictures and leave. They almost did not use filters and advanced search, rarely moved from images to sites and few viewed large images. This behavior indicates a low involvement in the search process. In sessions of this group, requests for children's goods, pets and sports are most common.

The next cluster is medium-length sessions, during which users view not too many, but not too few images, and sometimes use special search tools, such as filters from the advanced search. In the sessions of this group there are a lot of requests about the equipment, in particular, about mobile phones and computers, as well as cars and games.

The third cluster is the sessions of users who are heavily involved in the search process, but they do not need any particular picture. They view many images, often using a slideshow. The purpose of such searches is to have fun or get aesthetic pleasure from viewing beautiful pictures. In this group there are a lot of inquiries about fashion, humor, art and photography, interior and design.

The fourth cluster is a session of users who need a certain picture, they already have a certain image in their head. This is evidenced by the frequent use of filters size, color, graphics, clip art. Typical themes for the group are images as such (clipart, avatars, embroidery patterns, headpieces, etc.), as well as humor (jokes, demotivators). In these sessions, users are heavily involved in the process and most often seek pictures for their further use. For example, to illustrate a post or install a screensaver on your desktop.

And the last group - sessions that end with the transition to the site. These are quite lengthy sessions, during which users are also strongly involved in the process, but are not looking for a picture, but an object depicted on it. In such sessions there are a lot of inquiries about a variety of goods, cars, materials for construction and repair, clothing, accessories and footwear.

After analyzing the main scenarios of user behavior, we made an interface that takes into account all of them. In the new interface, you can:



During the experiment, we want to see how people use the new interface and its tools. So we can understand how successful he is, and whether something needs to be changed in him.

Always yours,
Yandex.Kartinok team