COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN WEB SEARCHING

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COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN WEB SEARCHING

• RAQUEL NAVARRO-PRIETO
• YVONNE ROGERS
• MIKE SCAIFE
• School of Cognitive and Computer Science
• University of Sussex (U.K.)

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Objectives and Questions

• Develop a Cognitive model of web searching
• How people search for information in such a
  complex environment?
• What are the main users problems?
• Role of interactivity, external representations,
  mental models?

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How to develop this model?

• STEP 1
• Theoretical Interactivity framework based on
  literature
• STEP 2
• Empirical study
• STEP 3
• Analysis of the results using the Interactivity
  framework External Cognition
• Develop the empirical Model
• STEP 4
• Experimental validation of the Model

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Interactivity framework
TASK
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What we know about searching tasks

• Tasks
• Web studies Shneiderman s model (1997), details
  vs. general information (Braham, 1997)
• Interactive multimedia Effects of interactivity,
  cognitive principles for CAI.
• Strategies
• Web studies Effect of experience (Kellogg and
  Richards, 1995), strategies (Nielsen, 1997,
  Pejtersen and Fidel, 1998)
• External representations
• Interactive multimedia Information retrieval in
  hypertext system
• External Cognition Interaction between external
  representations and internal representations

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Getting data

• Methodology Design
• Observational (video recording)
• Interviews
• Questionnaire experience, web knowledge,
  satisfaction.
• Tasks 4 tasks
• Subjects
• Experienced novice web users
• Computer Science and Psychology students

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Searching Conditions
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Searching Conditions
Structure of information
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Searching Conditions
Structure of information
Tasks
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Design
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Procedure

• Searching task
• (experimenter take notes)

Interview about the searching
Questionnaire
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FINDINGS

• Questionnaire Results
• Experienced users / novices
• Behavior data Interviews
• Integration of data from video data analysis and
  interviews to identify the common patterns

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Cognitive Strategies 1
Top- down descending in the hierarchy
education
Looking for a encyclopaedia to find information
about Nobel prize
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Cognitive Strategies 2

• Bottom-up ascending in the hierarchy

click on Dario Fo
query Literature Nobel Prize 1997
click on Bibliography
save
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Cognitive Strategies 3

• Mixed strategy

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Overview of the InteractionsTask/Experience/Stra
tegies
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Interactivity framework
TASK
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Model for experienced users
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Model for novice users
Start with the Categories from Web or keywords
provided to them
Driven by the External Representations
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How searchers use External Representations

• From a general category/query to a specific
  topic/precise query or changing topic following
  the suggestions

• Making inferences meaning of link,
  subcategories, etc.

• Differentiate the relevant/irrelevant information

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Design Implications

• EXT. REPRESENT. SHOULD MAKE VISIBLE

• DIMENSIONS

• Cognitive overload

• what is in each window
• where they are
• where they have been

• Constraining

• the structure of the information

• Re-representation

• relevant information/scanning

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Conclusions

• Methodological conclusions
• Hypothesis for experimentation
• Manipulate
• Structure of the information/Experience/External
  representation
• Design implications