[gfodor]

I suppose I see the tradeoff, but it sounds like an idea to me that went over well in a design meeting but never actually was user tested (I could be wrong?) There are other ways to ensure a user doesn't ask a duplicate question without having to convolute the search box with the "ask question" use case, which is certainly less common.

It was incredibly confusing to me, a software guy, so I can't imagine how confusing it must be to the average user.

[jdp23]

It's been user tested for many months now and the results are a consistent stream of confused users and duplicate questions. The response: long-timers there moan about how stupid the new users are.