When we ask users to explain what meaning Search Engines holds to them they come back with statements that, in one way or another, boils down to:

Search Engines lets me navigate the web the way I want to — cutting through all the noise and go straight to the pages I want.

When we ask them to list the things they look for in a Search Engine, three quality attributes…

1. Speed
2. Relevance
3. Trustworthiness

…and three experience attributes come out on top:

1. Easy to use
2. Quick
3. Focused

So, to summarize:

Users want relevant and comprehensive results, served within an intuitive interface that seamlessly adapts/responds to their shifting needs and get them where they are going faster.

About 5 months ago, we looked at the above and started building what today is Snap:

To the Frequent Searcher, who value speed and relevance but still think there is room for improvement, Snap is a new and smarter alternative to the text-in-text-out paradigm of Big Search. Snap is fast, visual and interactive. Snap is the other way to search.

What do You think?