Expertise significantly impacts how we seek information online. Tyler Tate explores how the differences between novices and experts help us design better search interfaces for both groups of users.
The effect of expertise on search behaviour
Greg Nudelman’s recent research into faceted search reveals the weaknesses in half-way attempts to combine facets and breadcrumbs. He recommends a “super-breadcrumb” design that takes faceted search to the next level.
Alan Turing’s ideas about artificial intelligence have not panned out exactly as he expected back in the 1950s. These ideas, however, can be used in interface design. John Ferrara shows us how they apply to designing search.
In large organizations, finding
people is a very common intranet task. Vivek Deshmukh gives us advice on how to improve people search and really help staff find
one another.
Improving the People Finder Application
People search for information online is often in idiosyncratic ways. It’s rarely as straightforward as designers of search systems assume. John Ferrara gives us hope as he helps us think about a broader search ecology and identifies patterns in behavior that serve as the basis for good search design.
The success of the simple search box has relegated advanced search to second-class status. Stephen Turbek looks to resurrect this useful feature from the dustbins of the design toolbox and suggest some useful ways for designers to utilize it effectively.
Installing a search engine is just the beginning of creating an effective enterprise search system. John Ferrara addresses critical aspects of the user experience often overlooked or ignored.
Beyond the Out-of-the-Box Experience
People disagree on what happens when IAs grow up, but Tom Reamy knows. He offers a foundation for information architecture as it advances, grappling with problems across the enterprise.
Why haven’t we figured out search yet? Amanda Spink talks with Christina Wodtke on why searchers still can’t ask a useful question of a search engine, and how Google may be part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
An Interview with Amanda Spink
Can we reasonably judge authority? How can we make good decisions in the information age? How do we know enough to ask the right questions? Peter Morville takes a moment to talk with us about these and other potential answers, his most recent book, the death of data, and our fascination with the future.