Information Architecture & Design Week 6 Schedule -Group Project Plan Due -Browsing and Searching for IA -Other Readings -Research Topic Presentations Gilok, Choi: Markup Languages Hutchens, Chad: Toolbars & Navigation Bars Parsiale, Veronica: Privacy Policy

Browsing and Searching Information Seeking Using Models Understanding Navigation Designing Navigation

What Is Information Seeking? “a process in which humans purposefully engage in order to change their state of knowledge.” p. 5 “a process driven by human’s need for information so that they can interact with the environment.” p. 28 “begins with recognition and acceptance of the problem and continues until the problem is resolved or abandoned” p. 49 Marchionini more than just representation, storage and systematic retrieval

Information Seeking in Context Learning Information Seeking Information Retrieval Analytical Strategy Browsing Strategy

Search Strategies Analytical careful planning recall of query terms iterative query reformulations examination of results batched Browsing heuristic opportunistic recognizing relevant information interactive (as can be)

Study Findings Few participants deliberately set out to search for new sites Determined the modes of scanning and moves exercised by the participants Recurring Web behavioral patterns that relate people’s browser actions (Web moves) to their browsing/searching context (Web modes) Modes of scanning: Aguilar (1967) & Weick & Daft (1983, 1984) Moves in information seeking behavior: Ellis (1989) & Ellis et. al. (1993, 1997)

Modes of Scanning

Information Seeking Behaviors & Web Moves

Integrated Modes & Moves Model

Behavioral Model of Web Use 61 identifiable episodes Confirmed in Interviews

Interview Highlights Most useful work-related sites: 1.Resource sites by associations & user groups 2.News sites 3.Company sites 4.Search engines Most people do not avidly search for new Web sites Criteria to bookmark a site is largely based on a site’s ability to provide relevant & up-to-date information Methods for identifying new Web sites: 1.Search engines 2.Magazines & newsletters 3.Other people/colleagues

Behavioral Model Highlights People who use the Web engage in 4 complementary modes of information seeking Certain browser based actions & events indicate a particular mode of information seeking Surprises -No Explicit Instances of Monitoring to Support Formal Searching -Very Few Instances of “Push” Monitoring -Extracting Involved Basic Search Strategies Only

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Design Recommendations for IA Undirected viewing: starting and chaining -Introduce systems that search/recommend jump sites -Design portals (home pages) to support undirected, serendipitous viewing Conditioned viewing: browsing, differentiating monitoring -Train users to evaluate and escalate priority or importance of info -Provide ways of telling users about new content on Web pages Informal search: differentiating monitoring, extracting -Pre-select sources & search engines for quick, informal searches -Prepackage search strategies developed by subject matter experts Formal search: extracting -Use multiple info sources for comprehensive searching -Train users on advanced search techniques

Tauscher & Greenberg (1997) Mostly Re-Visits (58%) Continually Visit New Pages Access Only A Few Pages Frequently Clusters (Sets) & Short Paths of URLs -Frequency -Recency -“Distance” Types of Navigation -Hub and Spoke -Depth Searching (lots of links before returning, if at all) -Guided Tour (Tasks)

Tauscher & Greenberg (1997) pt2 Back Button Use Affects Everything (Even More Since Study) Navigation Methods Differ Reasons for Revisiting -Explore Further -Use Feature (Search or Home Page) -“On the Way” to another Page (IA Problem) Users Don’t Understand Browser History Very Well or Do They Misunderstand Page/Site Navigation?

Maglio & Barrett (1996) What Do People Do When They Search? -Cognition -Mental Maps -Mental Models (Task Conceptualization) Build Agents Through Understanding IA Take Advantage of Understanding Small Dataset with Specific Searches

Maglio & Barrett (1996) pt 2 Participants Conceptualize Searching as Standard Routines -Misremembered Searches -Favorite Search Sites Participants Remember Only Key Nodes From a Search -Pages as Waypoints (Landmarks) -Page Elements Bad News for IA? -Predictable Use (Patterns Can Be Perfected in Testing) -Imperfect Memory (Use New Mnemonics – Graphics & Text) -Leverage Waypoints (Easier to Find Again and Use)

Navigation Systems & IA Layout -Global Navigation (Toolbars or Nav bars) -Local Navigation (Sidebars or Link Sets) -Content Navigation (Intra Site Links?) -Relational Navigation (Inter Site Links?) Mechanisms -Toolbars, Nav bars, Sidebars -Menus, Interactivity (Javascript, Flash, +) -Sitemaps (Indexes (A-Z), Task, Guides or Content) -Lists (Big and Small, Broad and Focused) -Graphics (Logos, ImageMaps, Dynamic Data) -Text (Descriptive, Prescriptive, Content) Too Much vs. Too Little (of any combination)

Navigation & Browser (no IA?) Browser Interfaces -Buttons -Bookmarks -URLs History -List -Menu Visualization Why Browse When You Can Search? -Memorize URLs vs. “Google it” -“Social Navigation” (Wear Paths & Popularity) -Your Behaviors and Results Sets Personalization

Navigation and Use The Best Design is not Always the Most Usable Instone’s Navigation Stress Test -Random Page -Find Page in Relation to Site Hierarchy (Where?) Purpose (What?) Interface (How?) Graphics (~Who?) -Decide Where Page Links To Associated Pages Part of a Content Unit Part of a Task

Search Systems & IA Rosenfeld – Don’t Build-in Search? Search vs. Browse? Conflict in Design to Complement in Design? Good Search Makes Up For Bad IA? Search and Browse Percentages? -New Users (to Site) -New Users (to Web) -Advanced Users

Designing Search Systems Indexing -Markup Languages & Other Attributes -Metadata -Content (All, Some, New, Newer?) Functionality -Boolean -Augment with Context -Personalization (Simple to Complex) Interface (p ) -Search Boxes, Buttons & “Query Builders” -Sorting and Ranking & Hierarchy (Metadata) -Results (Abstracting, Gisting(ML), Selection, Keywords) -Functions (More Like This, None Like This,

Browsing & Searching (Now) Should Users Always Know Where They Are? Should Users Always Understand Searching (Terms, Operators and Depth)? How Can You Leverage Conventions to Make Browsing Easier? -Combinations of Elements -Hierarchies -Classification How Can IA Augment Basic Searching? -Context -Repetition