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Structured Inspections of Search Interfaces: A Practitioners Guide

Structured Inspections of Search Interfaces: A Practitioners Guide
Structured Inspections of Search Interfaces: A Practitioners Guide
In this paper we present a practitioners guide on how to apply a new inspection framework that evaluates search interfaces for their support of different searcher types. Vast amounts of money are being invested into search, and so it is becoming increasingly important to identify problems in design early, while it is relatively cheap to rectify them. The inspection method presented here can be applied quickly to early prototypes, as well as existing systems, and goes beyond other inspection methods, like Cognitive Walkthroughs, to produces rich analyses, including the support provided for different search tactics and user types. The guide is presented as a detailed example, assessing a previously unevaluated search interface: the Tabulator, and so also provides design recommendations for improving it. We conclude with a summary of the benefits of the evaluation framework, and discuss our plans for future enhancements.
Wilson, Max L.
b34ab988-f78f-47bd-bf34-1a36be06b488
schraefel, m.c.
ac304659-1692-47f6-b892-15113b8c929f
Wilson, Max L.
b34ab988-f78f-47bd-bf34-1a36be06b488
schraefel, m.c.
ac304659-1692-47f6-b892-15113b8c929f

Wilson, Max L. and schraefel, m.c. (2008) Structured Inspections of Search Interfaces: A Practitioners Guide (Submitted)

Record type: Monograph (Project Report)

Abstract

In this paper we present a practitioners guide on how to apply a new inspection framework that evaluates search interfaces for their support of different searcher types. Vast amounts of money are being invested into search, and so it is becoming increasingly important to identify problems in design early, while it is relatively cheap to rectify them. The inspection method presented here can be applied quickly to early prototypes, as well as existing systems, and goes beyond other inspection methods, like Cognitive Walkthroughs, to produces rich analyses, including the support provided for different search tactics and user types. The guide is presented as a detailed example, assessing a previously unevaluated search interface: the Tabulator, and so also provides design recommendations for improving it. We conclude with a summary of the benefits of the evaluation framework, and discuss our plans for future enhancements.

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More information

Submitted date: 2008
Organisations: Agents, Interactions & Complexity

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 266712
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/266712
PURE UUID: 80a9ea75-12af-411e-9238-0766a4af29ad
ORCID for m.c. schraefel: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9061-7957

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 Sep 2008 09:37
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:16

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Contributors

Author: Max L. Wilson
Author: m.c. schraefel ORCID iD

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