Search, Taxonomy, Filters and Drop-downs

For content-heavy websites, users require a means to sort through the volume of content to find what they need. Making it easy for users to find the content they seek will improve their website experience and overall impression of the unit’s website and, by extension, the brand. This applies to all sorts of content: people directory, program information, news stories, events and more. 

Search

All university websites are required to use the enterprise search tool. See the Search Tool page in the “MSU Web Standards” for additional information.

Quality search experiences are tailored to context. For example, when searching in a people directory, users should be able to search by name, partial name, keyword, department, email and role. Results should automatically omit matches for terms in non-people directory fields. Searching the people directory for the word “Spanish” would return individuals from the Spanish program in the Department of Linguistics, Languages and Cultures, but not news stories containing the word “Spanish” because the context indicates the user is searching for a person.

Faceted searches allow users to filter search results using preset filters. Facets help narrow results to enable the user to more easily find what they’re looking for, such as by limiting results to a particular website or filtering by event category.

Metadata and Taxonomy

Metadata refers to fields or attributes on content that describe the content. It can be used to help users find, browse and search content. Website administrators and content authors can use it to display content based on certain values and to track information about content for measurement and reporting.

Taxonomy refers to controlled, predefined lists of options that can be selected for taxonomy-based metadata fields. Taxonomy ensures consistency in the way that content is described and organized. Taxonomy describes what the content is and is about.

MSU has worked to develop global metadata fields and taxonomies to power the enterprise marketing technology systems, including the content management system. These metadata fields and the values in these global taxonomies can also be used in non-enterprise technology platforms. Using the same metadata and taxonomy options across systems supports efforts to share content and content experiences across systems and enables communicators to report on content performance across platforms.  

Filters and Drop-downs

Navigation and filters can enable browsing of content using taxonomy lists and metadata fields. For example, news and stories can be browsed by categories and keywords. Browsing options can be handled using navigation to filtered pages or on-page filters using drop-down menu options.

Filter Best Practices

• Predictable: Users should be able to intuit what filter values they’ll find within a given filter category and understand the differences between categories. This is critical on mobile, when designs often use collapsed accordions to contain filter values.
• Free of jargon: Labels should be clear and easy to understand. Avoid the use of jargon.
• Prioritized: Organization of filter categories and values ensures users can easily find desired filters. Order options according to importance. Categories higher in the list receive more attention. 

Drop-down Best Practices

• Avoid choice overload. Too many options in a drop-down is overwhelming. It also can create a horrible experience when viewed on a mobile device. University Communications recommends there be no more than ten options available in a drop-down filter.
• Avoid interacting menus. Options in one menu should not change when users select something in another menu on the same page.
• Unavailable options should be grayed out to make it clear that they cannot be selected.
• Drop-down boxes should not be used for data that is very familiar to users, such as day, month or the year of their birth.
• The menu label or field description should remain in view when the drop-down is open.
• Keyboard input should be supported to navigate within a drop-down. 

Documentation updated: June 15, 2026