Designing the search experience the language of discovery - Findability Day 2014

Dr. Tony Russell-Rose, FBCS CITP

UXLabs, London UK

Tony Russell-Rose, PhD

Director, UXLabs

~20 years experience in applied research + technology innovation at

HP Labs, BT Labs, Canon, Reuters, Microsoft, Endeca

PhD in natural language interfaces, MSc in human-computer

interaction, first degree in engineering (human factors)

Author of “Designing the Search Experience: the information

architecture of discovery”, Elsevier 2012

3 patents for search user interface design. 60+ scientific and

technical papers on information retrieval and user experience

Honorary Visiting Fellow at City University London, Centre for

Interactive Systems Research

Vice-chair of the BCS Information Retrieval specialist group. Chair of

the IEHF HCI group. Founding chair of Search Solutions conference

Industry Expertise

Government

Media & publishing

Healthcare

eCommerce

Business intelligence

Domain Expertise

Search & information

retrieval

Speech & language

interfaces

Information architecture

2UXLabs: User Experience Research + Design + Analytics - www.uxlabs.co.uk

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“This a huge change to the overall user experience. It transforms the way we think, and opens opportunities to use search in a disruptive fashion. I love it!”

“Personally, I think people will get annoyed with it. The interface itself isn't

anything new, and it’s an outdated concept. When you think about state-of-the-art search, it should be less about searching and more about finding.”

“I’m excited to see how this will affect our searching habits. It has proven to be very useful and intuitive in my research work. In fact, it has also opened perspectives that I would otherwise have missed. Fantastic!”

“I can't stand it - it’s a hindrance not an aid. It slows me down. It is an unnecessary feature that has ruined the interface. I am so annoyed that I have to manually turn this nonsense off”


Where should the Faceted Navigation menu be located and how should it be organised?

Where should the Faceted Navigation menu be located and how should it be organised?


How should we present mixed content results to help users discover the most relevant and useful items?

How should we present mixed content results to help users discover the most relevant and useful items?


TaskUser Mode

Analyze

Compare

Evaluate

Explore

Locate

…

Context

Spatio-temporal

Social

Environment

Information Assets

The latest Harry Potter

book…

Shoes to match my

interview suit …

An affordable

entertainment system …

Electronics Engineer

Purchasing Agent

Novice Shopper

Technical Enthusiast

…


Literary mode:

a broad, but identifiable literary method, mood, or

manner that is not tied to a particular form or genre

(Wikipedia)

Discovery mode:

a broad, but identifiable discovery activity that is

not tied to a particular context or domain


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End user information needs:▪ Find best offers before the others do so I can have a high margin

▪ Get help and guidance on how to sell my car safely

▪ Understand what is selling by area so I can source the correct stock

▪ See year-on-year ad spend trends for TV and online

▪ etc.

Moderated, normalised, prioritised

Enterprise search + site search

Locate Verify Monitor Compare Comprehend

Scenarios

10UXLabs - User Experience Research and Design - www.uxlabs.co.uk

Partially inductive

Apply known models

Partially deductive

Identify new types of

behaviour


“While our goal over the long term may be a parsimonious few, highly effective tactics, our goal in the short term should be to uncover as many as we can... Then we can test the tactics and select the good ones. If we go for closure too soon… we may miss some valuable

tactics.” - Marcia Bates, 1979


“Understand the quality performance of a part and module set in manufacturing and the field so that I can determine if I should replace the part” – Engineering

“Understand a lead’s underlying positions so that I can assess the quality of the investment opportunity” – Portfolio manager

“Understand the cost drivers for this commodity so I can negotiate better terms with my suppliers and forecast business risk” – Procurement

Comprehend: To generate independent insight by understanding the nature of

meaning of an item or data set


“Gain visibility into the parts my colleagues are using in order to find the best possible part for my assembly” –Engineering

“Identify dealers at risk of failing and at risk of de-branding based on performance problems” – Account rep

“identify problem/success areas and where to intervene and reward” – SVP sales

Explore:

To investigate an item or data set for the purpose of knowledge discovery

Lookup

• Locate

• Verify

• Monitor

Learn

• Compare

• Comprehend

• Evaluate

Investigate

• Explore

• Analyze

• Synthesize



My Twitter home page allows me to: Monitor tweets,

followers, interactions

Explore trends, topics, suggestions

Locate tweets, people, hashtags

Synthesize new tweets, retweets

The modes provide the verbs

e.g. Explore <object> in order to achieve <goal>

Objects can be people, events, topics, processes…

But languages also have a grammar…

Scenario analysis: multiple modes

Framework reveals common patterns

Repeating sequences of 2-3 modes

Composite chains


Replace a problematic part (from sourcing, cost, or technical perspective)…

… with an equivalent or better part

… without compromising

quality or cost


Analyze

Compare

Evaluate

Exploratory search Identify opportunities to optimize use of tooling capacity for my

commodity/parts

Strategic oversight Monitor & assess commodity status against strategy/plan/target

Strategic insight Understand a lead's underlying positions so that I can assess the

quality of the investment opportunity


EvaluateEvaluateAnalyzeAnalyzeExploreExplore

EvaluateEvaluateAnalyzeAnalyzeMonitorMonitor

EvaluateEvaluateComprehendComprehendAnalyzeAnalyze

Insight-driven search

Assess the proper market value for my car

Opportunity-driven search

Find useful stuff on my subject topic

Qualified search

Find a van that meets a customer's requirements


ComprehendComprehendAnalyzeAnalyzeExploreExplore

EvaluateEvaluateLocateLocateExploreExplore

VerifyVerifyLocateLocate


A common Twitter sequence: Explore an author’s

profile & activity

Analyze their activity, followers, tweets

Evaluate the author and their relevance/value

= Exploratory SearchEvaluateEvaluateAnalyzeAnalyzeExploreExplore


Comprehend

Locate

Verify

Evaluate

AnalyzeExplore Comprehend

Analyze Comprehend

Compare

Verify

Synthesize

Evaluate

Monitor Analyze

Explore


Site search

Emphasizes ‘Lookup’ modes

▪ e.g. Locate, Verify

Enterprise search

Emphasizes ‘Investigate’ modes

▪ e.g. Analyze, Evaluate

More diverse patterns

Longer, composite chains


Discovery modes

• A lens for understanding information-seeking behaviour

• A language for describing composite patterns

• Can be applied both analytically and generatively

Site Search vs. Enterprise Search

• Common modes, but different patterns

• Shorter chains, less embedding

Implications

• We need to see ‘search’ as part of a broader task lifecycle

• Simplistic metrics may not measure anything of value


http://designingthesearchexperience.com

Morgan Kaufmann,

December 2012


http://designingthesearchexperience.com/

Dr. Tony Russell-Rose, FBCS CITP

Director, UXLabs

Web: http://uxlabs.co.uk

Email: [email protected]

Blog: http://isquared.wordpress.com

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonyrussellrose

Twitter: @tonygrr


http://www.uxlabs.co.uk/

mailto:[email protected]

http://isquared.wordpress.com/

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonyrussellrose

Data & Analytics

Designing the search experience the language of discovery - Findability Day 2014