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modes of seeking information
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1. Known-item
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design approaches to help with this type of task:
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Search.
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A-Z indexes
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look at the terms used during user research or in the search logs.
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Quick links.
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Navigation.
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2. Exploratory
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r may not know how to articulate it and, if they can, may not yet know the right words to use.
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people have some idea of what they need to know.
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history on the technique of card sorting
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examples of exploratory task
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finding music I like.
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Navigation.
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Related information.
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Search.
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3. Don’t know what you need to know
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Complex domains such as legal, policy, or financial.
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Any time we wish to persuade the user.
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Unknown domains.
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Keeping up to date.
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e challenge is providing an answer while exposing people to the necessary information, thus showing what they may need to know.
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Straightforward answers
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More detailed information
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4. Re-finding
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or passive
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Design solutions can be active
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“ “The most important issue is not whether you notice a mode of seeking information that fits into one of these categories, but that a range of modes exist.”
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Known-items
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Exploratory informatio
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n seeking
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“Don’t know what you need to know”
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Re-finding
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13 Oct 11
Melinda MillerFour Modes of Seeking Information and How to Design for Them - Boxes and Arrows: The design behind the design: http://t.co/Xu076zOe
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Kolaboraccion Repositorio DigitalI discovered the concepts in this article while preparing material for an introductory information architecture workshop. In the workshop, I thought it important to highlight that one aspect of designing for users was to understand the ways in which they
Four Modes of Seeking Information and How to Design for Them
by Donna Maurer on 2006/03/14 | [27 Comments] -
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Let’s look at the modes of seeking information in some depth and their implications for web design.
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1. Known-item
Known-item information seeking is the easiest to understand. In a known-item task, the user: -
. 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. -
Search. Search can be useful for exploratory tasks, but can be problematic due to the user’s inability to articulate what they are after. An initial search can help the user to learn about the domain and get some ideas for keywords. It can also be useful to provide synonyms for the search term as they may help the user to better articulate their query.
For this mode, it is critical that there are always avenues for exploration and that the visitor never reaches a dead end. -
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. -
. 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 good passive solution allows users to see items they have seen before, order them by frequency of use, easily get to the content, and the information within it persists over time (longer than the current session).
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Real estate sites. Potential buyers look at their favorite house over and over.
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Known-items show up in heavy use of search with accurate keywords, when users can easily list what they need from the site and support e-mail will ask for specific content.
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Exploratory information seeking shows up in search when vague phrases or repeated searches for similar keywords are used;
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Mark Blair"In my work on intranets and complex websites, I noticed a range of situations where people didn’t necessarily know what they needed to know. Additionally, when I opened my browser history to look for examples from recently-visited sites, I noticed that the majority of my own time was spent trying to find things that I had already discovered. These two modes didn’t fit into the concepts of known-item and exploratory information seeking. I call these “don’t know what you need to know” and re-finding.
I spent a while letting this rattle around my head, talking with IAs and designers, and realized that most only thought in terms of known-item searching. When discussing the other types of tasks, they’d ask with a horrified look, “So how do you design for that?”
Let’s look at the modes of seeking information in some depth and their implications for web design." -
Fogday Studios“ “Observe how your users approach information, consider what it means, and design to allow them to achieve what they need.” ”
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Re-finding is easy to identify if your site has user registration and the logs show what pages people visit. You can also look at the number of items in wish lists.
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Emily OUseful for summarizing state of research on information seeking
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Angus HongI discovered the concepts in this article while preparing material for an introductory information architecture workshop. In the workshop, I thought it important to highlight that one aspect of designing for users was to understand the ways in which they
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Mike StenhouseIn my work on intranets and complex websites, I noticed a range of situations where people didn’t necessarily know what they needed to know. Additionally, when I opened my browser history to look for examples from recently-visited sites, I noticed that
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Guy CarberryThe most important issue is not whether you notice a mode of seeking information that fits into one of these categories, but that a range of modes exist. Observe how your users approach information, consider what it means, and design to allow them to achi
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Gordon Rossn my work on intranets and complex websites, I noticed a range of situations where people didn’t necessarily know what they needed to know. Additionally, when I opened my browser history to look for examples from recently-visited sites, I noticed that t
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