Search user interfaces

Title:

Personal Author:

Hearst, Marti

Publication Information:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, c2009

Physical Description:

xviii, 385 p., 12 p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 27 cm.

ISBN:

9780521113793

Subject Term:

Web search engines

User interfaces (Computer systems)

Human-computer interaction

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Call Number	Material Type	Item Category 1	Status
Searching... PSZ JB	30000010282976	TK5105.884 H43 2009	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown

This book focuses on the human users of search engines and the tool they use to interact with them: the search user interface. The truly worldwide reach of the Web has brought with it a new realization among computer scientists and laypeople of the enormous importance of usability and user interface design. In the last ten years, much has become understood about what works in search interfaces from a usability perspective, and what does not. Researchers and practitioners have developed a wide range of innovative interface ideas, but only the most broadly acceptable make their way into major web search engines. This book summarizes these developments, presenting the state of the art of search interface design, both in academic research and in deployment in commercial systems. Many books describe the algorithms behind search engines and information retrieval systems, but the unique focus of this book is specifically on the user interface. It will be welcomed by industry professionals who design systems that use search interfaces as well as graduate students and academic researchers who investigate information systems.

Reviews 1

Choice Review

Searching for, or rather finding, information is probably one of the most important tasks and challenges today. This very well-researched book, with a wealth of bibliographic references, offers fairly detailed discussions and analyses of this subject. Hearst (Univ. of California, Berkeley) does a pretty good job in addressing the fundamentals of both information retrieval and user interface, and their intersection. Chapters examine the design/evaluation of search interfaces; information seeking process models; query specification/reformulation; presenting search results; navigation and search integration; personalization; visualization for search interfaces and text analysis; and search interface trends. This is good content, especially for researchers or advanced graduate students. Readers seeking practical advice and quick tips will still find helpful information, but they will have to sift through numerous survey-style analyses, and draw their own conclusions/recommendations. But perhaps the single most disappointing aspect of this book is that most chapter conclusions are sparse, dull, and not very useful. This reviewer was not able to find any clear, concrete recommendations on what to do under specific circumstances. Additionally, there were occasional disconnects between text discussions and relevant figures. In fairness, however, the work does meet its intended goal of summarizing developments in the field. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. H. Levkowitz University of Massachusetts

Preface	p. xi
1 The Design of Search User Interfaces	p. 1
1.1 Keeping the Interface Simple	p. 1
1.2 A Historical Shift in Search Interface Design	p. 3
1.3 The Process of Search Interface Design	p. 5
1.4 Design Guidelines for Search Interfaces	p. 6
1.5 Offer Efficient and Informative Feedback	p. 7
1.6 Balance User Control with Automated Actions	p. 14
1.7 Reduce Short-Term Memory Load	p. 18
1.8 Provide Shortcuts	p. 22
1.9 Reduce Errors	p. 23
1.10 Recognize the Importance of Small Details	p. 25
1.11 Recognize the Importance of Aesthetics in Design	p. 26
1.12 Conclusions	p. 28
2 The Evaluation of Search User Interfaces	p. 29
2.1 Standard Information Retrieval Evaluation	p. 30
2.2 Informal Usability Testing	p. 34
2.3 Formal Studies and Controlled Experiments	p. 36
2.4 Longitudinal Studies	p. 46
2.5 Analyzing Search Engine Server Logs	p. 47
2.6 Large-Scale Log-Based Usability Testing (Bucket Testing)	p. 49
2.7 Special Concerns with Evaluating Search Interfaces	p. 52
2.8 Conclusions	p. 63
3 Models of the Information Seeking Process	p. 64
3.1 The Standard Model of Information Seeking	p. 64
3.2 Cognitive Models of Information Seeking	p. 66
3.3 The Dynamic (Berry-Picking) Model	p. 67
3.4 Information Seeking in Stages	p. 69
3.5 Information Seeking as a Strategic Process	p. 71
3.6 Sensemaking: Search as Part of a Larger Process	p. 80
3.7 Information Needs and Query Intent	p. 82
3.8 Conclusions	p. 90
4 Query Specification	p. 91
4.1 Textual Query Specification	p. 91
4.2 Query Specification via Entry Form Interfaces	p. 101
4.3 Dynamic Term Suggestions During Query Specification	p. 105
4.4 Query Specification Using Boolean and Other Operators	p. 107
4.5 Query Specification Using Command Languages	p. 114
4.6 Conclusions	p. 118
5 Presentation of Search Results	p. 120
5.1 Document Surrogates	p. 120
5.2 KWIC, or Query-Oriented Summaries	p. 122
5.3 Highlighting Query Terms	p. 128
5.4 Addition Features of Results Listings	p. 130
5.5 The Effects of Search Results Ordering	p. 135
5.6 Visualization of Search Results	p. 139
5.7 Conclusions	p. 139
6 Query Reformulation	p. 141
6.1 The Need for Reformulation	p. 141
6.2 Spelling Suggestions and Corrections	p. 142
6.3 Automated Term Suggestions	p. 144
6.4 Suggesting Popular Destinations	p. 151
6.5 Relevance Feedback	p. 152
6.6 Showing Related Articles (More Like This)	p. 154
6.7 Conclusions	p. 156
7 Supporting the Search Process	p. 157
7.1 Starting Points for Search	p. 157
7.2 Supporting Search History	p. 162
7.3 Supporting the Search Process as a Whole	p. 164
7.4 Integrating Search with Sensemaking	p. 168
7.5 Conclusions	p. 173
8 Integrating Navigation with Search	p. 174
8.1 Categories for Navigating and Narrowing	p. 175
8.2 Categories for Grouping Search Results	p. 177
8.3 Categories for Sorting and Filtering Search Results	p. 180
8.4 Organizing Search Results via Table-of-Contents Views	p. 182
8.5 The Decline of Hierarchical Navigation of Web Content	p. 187
8.6 Faceted Navigation	p. 188
8.7 Navigating via Social Tagging and Social Bookmarking	p. 196
8.8 Clustering in Search Interfaces	p. 199
8.9 Clusters vs. Categories in Search Interfaces	p. 208
8.10 Conclusions	p. 210
9 Personalization in Search	p. 211
9.1 Personalization Based on Explicit Preferences	p. 213
9.2 Personalization Based on Implicit Relevance Cues	p. 221
9.3 Combining Implicit and Explicit Information	p. 229
9.4 Searching over Personal Information	p. 231
9.5 Conclusions	p. 232
10 Information Visualization for Search Interfaces	p. 234
10.1 Principles of Information Visualization	p. 235
10.2 Techniques for Interactive Visualization	p. 237
10.3 The Effects of Data Types on Information Visualization	p. 238
10.4 The Difficulties with Visualizing Nominal Data	p. 240
10.5 Visualization for Query Specification	p. 247
10.6 Visualizing Query Terms Within a Large Document	p. 252
10.7 Visualizing Query Terms Within Retrieval Results	p. 254
10.8 Visualizing Faceted Navigation	p. 267
10.9 Visualizing Search Results as Clusters and ôStarfieldsö	p. 273
10.10 3D Visualization in Search	p. 278
10.11 Conclusions	p. 280
11 Information Visualization for Text Analysis	p. 281
11.1 Visualization for Text Mining	p. 281
11.2 Visualizing Document Concordances and Word Frequencies	p. 286
11.3 Visualizing Literature and Citation Relationships	p. 294
11.4 Conclusions	p. 296
12 Emerging Trends in Search Interfaces	p. 297
12.1 Mobile Search Interfaces	p. 297
12.2 Multimedia Search Interfaces	p. 306
12.3 Social Search	p. 317
12.4 A Hybrid of Command and Natural Language Search	p. 322
12.5 Conclusions	p. 323
Appendix: Additional Copyright Notices	p. 325
Bibliography	p. 329
Index	p. 365
Author Index	p. 375

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Table of Contents