Seeking information - four common modes
02/05/09 15:30 Filed in: search
Donna
Spencer has a very nice article on how users try to
search for information, and the four differing modes
they can be in during a search. Indexing with these
four modes in mind is a great way to increase the
findability in an index.
Boxes and Arrows, Four Modes of Seeking
Information and How to Design for Them
1. Known-item
Known-item information seeking is the easiest to understand. In a known-item task, the user:
*Knows what they want
*Knows what words to use to describe it
*May have a fairly good understanding of where to start
2. Exploratory
In an exploratory task, people have some idea of what they need to know. However, they may or may not know how to articulate it and, if they can, may not yet know the right words to use. They may not know where to start to look. They will usually recognise when they have found the right answer, but may not know whether they have found enough information.
3. Don’t know what you need to know
The key concept behind this mode is that people often don’t know exactly what they need to know. They may think they need one thing but need another; or, they may be looking at a website without a specific goal in mind.
4. Re-finding
This mode is relatively straightforward—people looking for things they have already seen. They may remember exactly where it is, remember what site it was on, or have little idea about where it was. A lot of my personal information seeking is hunting down information I have already seen. I don’t know how prevalent this is, but discussions with others indicate that I am not alonee.
I highly recommend this article - and the Boxes and Arrows site in general for keeping up on searching, findability, and usability, not to mention metadata and taxonomies.
1. Known-item
Known-item information seeking is the easiest to understand. In a known-item task, the user:
*Knows what they want
*Knows what words to use to describe it
*May have a fairly good understanding of where to start
2. Exploratory
In an exploratory task, people have some idea of what they need to know. However, they may or may not know how to articulate it and, if they can, may not yet know the right words to use. They may not know where to start to look. They will usually recognise when they have found the right answer, but may not know whether they have found enough information.
3. Don’t know what you need to know
The key concept behind this mode is that people often don’t know exactly what they need to know. They may think they need one thing but need another; or, they may be looking at a website without a specific goal in mind.
4. Re-finding
This mode is relatively straightforward—people looking for things they have already seen. They may remember exactly where it is, remember what site it was on, or have little idea about where it was. A lot of my personal information seeking is hunting down information I have already seen. I don’t know how prevalent this is, but discussions with others indicate that I am not alonee.
I highly recommend this article - and the Boxes and Arrows site in general for keeping up on searching, findability, and usability, not to mention metadata and taxonomies.