Recently Google changed their search results page to incorporate something called Google Instant, whereby as you type the search results on the page change. This type of “instant” technology has been met with mixed opinions, where some love it and others hate it, and I am in the latter camp. This “instant” idea was recently applied to Amazon.com book searches, and I have to admit I do love ShelfLuv.

ShelfLuv is the brainchild Pek Pongpaet, a Chicago user experience designer and developer, among other hats he wears. For the sake of full disclosure, I know Pek. One of the benefits of knowing him is seeing the ideas he makes into reality, and one of them is ShelfLuv. Rather than just refreshing a page with book suggestions, he created the visual of a bookshelf to show the book suggestions based on the keyword or keywords you enter. As the words change, so do the books on the shelf. And when you click on a book, you can see a brief description, review and excerpt if available. You also have the option to view similar books.

Below is a screenshot of ShelfLuv where it displays 4 books written by one of my clients, Steve Jermanok who blogs at ActiveTravels.

ShelfLuv is definitely something you want to experiment with for yourself. For example, I typed in 3 words, one at a time – new, England and Patriots. With each word, the selection changed from new releases to knitting books to books on my favorite football team. It is not only a unique way to shop for books, but a great example of how a great presentation layer on top of technology can make all the difference in the success of any Web site or service.

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