Information Architecture & Design 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 SearchingBrowsing and Searching

• Information Seeking• Using Models• Understanding Navigation• Designing Navigation

What Is Information Seeking?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 ContextInformation Seeking in Context

Learning

Information Seeking

Information Retrieval

Analytical Strategy

BrowsingStrategy

Search StrategiesSearch 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 FindingsStudy 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 ScanningModes of Scanning

ScanningModes

Information Need Information Use Amount ofTargeted

Effort

Numberof

Sources

Tactics

Undirected

Viewing

General areas ofinterest;specific need to berevealed

Serendipitousdiscovery

“Sensing”

Minimal Many • Scan broadly a diversity ofsources, taking advantageof what’s easily accessible

• “Touring”

Conditioned

Viewing

Able to recognizetopics of interest

Increaseunderstanding

“Sensemaking”

Low Few • Browse in pre-selectedsources on pre-specifiedtopics of interest

• “Tracking”

Informal

Search

Able to formulatequeries

Increaseknowledge withinnarrow limits

“Learning”

Medium Few • Search is focused on anissue or event, but a good-enough search issatisfactory

• “Satisficing”

Formal

Search

Able to specifytargets

Formal use ofinformation forplanning, acting

“Deciding”

High Many • Systematic gathering ofinformation on a target,following some method orprocedure

• “Retrieving”

Information Seeking Behaviors & Web Information Seeking Behaviors & Web MovesMoves

Integrated Modes & Moves ModelIntegrated Modes & Moves Model

Starting Chaining Browsing Differentiating Monitoring Extracting

UndirectedViewing

Identifyingselectingstartingpages, sites

Followinglinks oninitialpages

ConditionedViewing

Browsingentrypages,headings,site maps

Bookmarking,printing,copying

Going directlyto known site

Revisiting‘favorite’ orbookmarkedsites for newinformation

InformalSearch

Bookmarking,printing,copying

Going directlyto known site

Revisiting‘favorite’ orbookmarkedsites for newinformation

Using(local)searchengines toextractinformation

FormalSearch

Revisiting‘favorite’ orbookmarkedsites for newinfo

Usingsearchengines toextractinformation

Behavioral Model of Web UseBehavioral Model of Web Use

• 61 identifiable episodes• Confirmed in Interviews

Starting Chaining Browsing Differentiating Monitoring Extracting

Undirected Viewing

Conditioned Viewing

Informal Search

Formal Search

12 Episodes

18 Episodes

23 Episodes

8 Episodes

Interview HighlightsInterview Highlights

• Most useful work-related sites:1. Resource sites by associations & user groups2. News sites 3. Company sites4. 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 engines2. Magazines & newsletters3. Other people/colleagues

Behavioral Model HighlightsBehavioral 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

Fill in the BlanksFill in the Blanks

Starting Chaining Browsing Differentiating Monitoring Extracting

Undirected Viewing

Conditioned Viewing

Informal Search

Formal Search

Design Recommendations for IADesign 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)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) pt2Tauscher & 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)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 2Maglio & 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 & IANavigation 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?)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 UseNavigation 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 & IASearch 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 SystemsDesigning Search Systems

• Indexing- Markup Languages & Other Attributes- Metadata- Content (All, Some, New, Newer?)

• Functionality- Boolean- Augment with Context- Personalization (Simple to Complex)

• Interface (p 149-175)- 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)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