{"id":5459,"date":"2018-05-03T11:32:51","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T10:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/?p=5459"},"modified":"2018-05-03T11:32:51","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T10:32:51","slug":"designing-search-managing-the-information-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/?p=5459","title":{"rendered":"Designing search: managing the information journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
Image by PublicCo via Pixabay [CC0 Creative Commons]<\/figcaption><\/figure>In our last post<\/a>, we looked at the role of metaphors and models<\/a> in search, and explored one particular metaphor that was valuable for both its simplicity and utility: the chess metaphor<\/em>. This simple notion helps us frame and structure the search experience in a way that allows us to better understand the stages involved, and how they combine to form a coherent information journey.\u00a0 In this post, we take a closer look the principles that govern how to propagate the user\u2019s navigational context from one phase to the next, and how those transitions shape the search experience.<\/p>\n

At this point you may be thinking: \u2018But what navigational context is there, apart from keywords?\u2019 Of course, for many simple (aka web) search experiences that\u2019s all there is: a handful of keywords in the opening game<\/a> that are then echoed in the middle game<\/a>. But many professional search<\/a> applications (such as those used by lawyers, scientists, information professionals, etc.) make a virtue of offering a relatively complex opening game in which the user is invited to articulate the full extent of their information need in the form of a complex, pre-coordinated query. In these cases, the full detail of that navigational context needs to be propagated to the middle game in a manner that makes its presence transparent and its effects easily editable.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This complexity represents a design challenge that is not always adequately addressed. However, the irony is that many of the most instructive examples of professional search applications are available on a subscription-only basis, and hence not open to public scrutiny and review. In their stead therefore, we will refer to simpler but analogous instances from the open web to illustrate the key concepts and principles. With that caveat in mind, let\u2019s look at some examples.<\/p>\n

Design practice<\/h2>\n

We can see an example of the role of navigational context (or rather, its absence) when we enter an ambiguous query such as \u2018golf\u2019 into eBay<\/a>. In this instance, we are presented with a slightly surreal juxtaposition of search results for golfing apparel combined with facet values for cars and vehicles:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ambiguous navigational context at eBay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It isn\u2019t until the user provides context in the form of a product category (e.g. by using the scope selector in the opening game or the facets in the middle game) that the search experience becomes coherent. \u00a0We see an example of a slightly more complex opening game at The National Archives<\/a>, which invites the user to articulate two further aspects of navigational context via the associated checkboxes:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Opening game at TNA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These are then propagated through to the middle game via the use of pre-selected facet refinements that are displayed in the breadbox:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Middle game at TNA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By using a conventional breadbox<\/a> approach, this approach supports the principle of making the navigational context transparent and easily editable. But it isn\u2019t the only way to achieve such an end. At the British Library<\/a>, for example, navigational context is articulated in the opening game via the use of a search box featuring multiple tabs and a scope selector (which disappears when the second or third tab is selected):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Opening game at British Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These choices are then propagated through to the middle game by propagating not only the navigational context but the actual opening game control itself:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Middle game at British Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If the user now wants to edit their navigational context, they can adopt the same approach as earlier. This offers a degree of consistency, but refreshing the search results as the user switches tabs feels slightly unexpected, particularly as the tabs give the impression of being scoped to the search box only, and applied retrospectively rather than instantaneously.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s instructive also to note that it\u2019s not just the results that change as the context switches: the facets themselves do too. Under \u2018Main catalogue\u2019 we see a facet for Access Options, but no such choice exists under either of the other tabs. This is of course quite understandable, since this option only makes sense within the context of a main catalogue item.<\/p>\n

We see a slightly more elaborate opening game at Portland State University Library<\/a>, which offers three search variants presented as vertically stacked tabs:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Opening game at PSU Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adopting an approach that is something of a hybrid of the previous two, the navigational context is then propagated to the middle game via the scope selector, which is pre-populated with the chosen category:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Middle game at PSU Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But not all search journeys are concerned with the transition from opening game to middle game. For some, it is the transitions within the middle game itself where the subtlety lies. Tate<\/a>, for example, offers a relatively simple opening game:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Opening game at Tate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This then segues into an ostensibly conventional middle game, with tabs serving as convenient category selectors:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Middle game at Tate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But beneath those tabs lies a further layer of navigational sophistication, as illustrated by the \u2018Artworks\u2019 tab:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Middle game at Tate (second level)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now we see options that are specific to that content type, but within the context of all the other available content types. This 2-level approach provides an elegantly scalable solution to the problem of providing the right navigational choices at the right time, and neatly avoids the earlier issue of displaying search results alongside irrelevant facets (or vice versa).<\/p>\n

Despite the clear benefits, the search (and\/or UX) community has yet to establish any consistent terminology for this approach or indeed to the principles that govern its behavior. In my time at Endeca<\/a> (aka Oracle), we used to call these precedence rules<\/em>. In other words, in the above example there would be a precedence rule of the form:<\/p>\n

IF content_type=\u201dArtWorks\u201d THEN display facets [Attributes, Location, Era, Type, Date]<\/pre>\n
In some professional search applications with multiple content types (and\/or categories), these precedence rules can be quite complex, and become the focus of considerable manual review and maintenance.<\/p>\n
We see this principle taken one step further at Crate & Barrel<\/a>, where the user has the option not just to apply secondary facets specific to each content type, but to actually select which secondary facets they wish to see. For example, a search for \u2018lights\u2019 returns a results page in which the facets are displayed in a horizontal configuration, and closed by default:<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Middle game at Crate & Barrel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
So far, so conventional. But what is unusual here is the ability of the user to select additional facets, and have them displayed alongside the previous ones:<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Middle game at Crate & Barrel (second level)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A somewhat unfortunate side effect of this is that it is possible to add facets that seem to offer implausible choices (can a light really have a \u2018capacity\u2019?), but the degree of flexibility this offers is unprecedented in most web search experiences, and suggests intriguing possibilities for professional search applications where fine control and navigational sophistication is required.<\/p>\n
In closing<\/h2>\n
The transitions between opening, middle and end game guide and shape a users\u2019 information journey, and reliably propagating their navigational context from one stage to the next is a crucial part of the search experience. In this post, we have briefly examined some of the ways in which that context can be articulated, and the different techniques for making its presence transparent and its effects easily editable. All of these concerns require detailed consideration of the intersection between the user, their search journey and their context. In our next post, we\u2019ll examine a simple spreadsheet-based approach for capturing these considerations in a principled and systematic manner.<\/p>\n
Signpost Image by PublicCo<\/a> via\u00a0Pixabay<\/a>\u00a0[CC0 Creative Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In our last post, we looked at the role of metaphors and models in search, and explored one particular metaphor that was valuable for both its simplicity and utility: the chess metaphor. This simple notion helps us frame and structure the search experience in a way that allows us to better understand the stages involved,… Continue reading Designing search: managing the information journey<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[201,212],"tags":[274,282,297,299],"class_list":["post-5459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feature-article","category-spring-2018","tag-endeca","tag-faceted-search","tag-information-seeking","tag-interaction-design","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive-irsg.bcs.org\/informer\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}