From Keyword Search to Exploration: How Result Visualization Aids Discovery on the Web

A key to the Web's success is the power of search. The elegant way in which search results are returned is usually remarkably effective. However, for exploratory search in which users need to learn, discover, and understand novel or complex topics, there is substantial room for improvement. Human computer interaction researchers and web browser designers have developed novel strategies to improve Web search by enabling users to conveniently visualize, manipulate, and organize their Web search results. This monograph offers fresh ways to think about search-related cognitive processes and describes innovative design approaches to browsers and related tools. For instance, while key word search presents users with results for specific information (e.g., what is the capitol of Peru), other methods may let users see and explore the contexts of their requests for information (related or previous work, conflicting information), or the properties that associate groups of information assets (group legal decisions by lead attorney). We also consider the both traditional and novel ways in which these strategies have been evaluated. From our review of cognitive processes, browser design, and evaluations, we reflect on the future opportunities and new paradigms for exploring and interacting with Web search results

User Interfaces and Difference Visualizations for Alternatives

Designers often create multiple iterations to evaluate alternatives. Todays computer-based tools do not support such easy exploration of a design space, despite the fact that such support has been advocated. This dissertation is centered on this. I begin by investigating the effectiveness of various forms of difference visualizations and support for merging changes within a system targeted at diagrams with node and edge attributes. I evaluated the benefits of the introduced difference visualization techniques in two user studies. I found that the basic side-by-side juxtaposition visualization was not effective and also not well received. For comparing diagrams with matching node positions, participants preferred the side-by-side option with a difference layer. For diagrams with non-matching positions animation was beneficial, but the combination with a difference layer was preferred. Thus, the difference layer technique was useful and a good complement to animation. I continue by investigating if explicit support for design alternatives better supports exploration and creativity in a generative design system. To investigate the new techniques to better support exploration, I built a new system that supports parallel exploration of alternative designs and generation of new structural combinations. I investigate the usefulness of my prototype in two user studies and interviews. The results and feedback suggest and confirm that supporting design alternatives explicitly enables designers to work more creatively. Generative models are often represented as DAGs (directed acyclic graphs) in a dataflow programming environment. Existing approaches to compare such DAGs do not generalize to multiple alternatives. Informed by and building on the first part of my dissertation, I introduce a novel user interface that enables visual differencing and editing alternative graphsspecifically more than two alternatives simultaneously, something that has not been presented before. I also explore multi-monitor support to demonstrate that the difference visualization technique scales well to up to 18 alternatives. The novel jamming space feature makes organizing alternatives on a 23 monitor system easier. To investigate the usability of the new difference visualization method I conducted an exploratory interview with three expert designers. The received comments confirmed that it meets their design goals

Prompting for Discovery: Flexible Sense-Making for AI Art-Making with Dreamsheets

Design space exploration (DSE) for Text-to-Image (TTI) models entails navigating a vast, opaque space of possible image outputs, through a commensurately vast input space of hyperparameters and prompt text. Minor adjustments to prompt input can surface unexpectedly disparate images. How can interfaces support end-users in reliably steering prompt-space explorations towards interesting results? Our design probe, DreamSheets, supports exploration strategies with LLM-based functions for assisted prompt construction and simultaneous display of generated results, hosted in a spreadsheet interface. The flexible layout and novel generative functions enable experimentation with user-defined workflows. Two studies, a preliminary lab study and a longitudinal study with five expert artists, revealed a set of strategies participants use to tackle the challenges of TTI design space exploration, and the interface features required to support them - like using text-generation to define local "axes" of exploration. We distill these insights into a UI mockup to guide future interfaces.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, currently under revie

Support for Information-Seeking Strategies

Längere Such-Episoden umfassen mehrere Such-Aktionen. Diese Such-Aktionen können in verschiedene Klassen unterteilt werden. Die Klassifikation, die in dieser Arbeit verwendet wird, ist die ISS-Klassifikation von Belkin, Marchetti und Cool, die vier Facetten verwendet (method, goal, mode, resource used), von denen jede zwei Werte hat. Unter der Annahme, dass Support-Mechanismen für jede Klasse bekannt sind, war die Forschungsfrage, ob man jede dieser Klassen durch ein anderes, spezialisiertes Such-Interface unterstützen muss, um eine optimale Unterstützung über unterschiedliche Situationen hinweg zu erreichen, oder ob es reicht, wenn ein einziges Interface Support-Mechanismen für alle denkbaren Such-Aktionen anbietet. Die Forschungsfrage wurde in insgesamt drei Experimenten untersucht. Die ISS-Klassifikation besteht aus 16 Klassen. Da die Untersuchung der Forschungsfrage für jede dieser 16 Klassen zu aufwändig gewesen wäre, wurden zwei Facetten, goal und resource used, ausgeschlossen. Dadurch blieben zwei Facetten, method und mode, mit insgesamt vier Klassen übrig. Support-Mechanismen für die vier Facetten-Werte, scanning, searching, recognition und specification, wurden gesammelt unter der Annahme, dass diese Mechanismen ebenso unabhängig voneinander sind wie die zugrunde liegenden Facetten. Der Facetten-Wert recognition wurde in zwei Experimenten untersucht. Das erste Experiment untersuchte eine Tabellen-basierte Ergebnislisten-Darstellung mit einer Listen-basierten Darstellung mit Highlighting bezüglich ihrer Auswirkung auf den Erfolg bei visueller Suche. Versuchsteilnehmer wurden gebeten, Such-Ziele in vorgefertigten Ergebnislisten mit beiden Darstellungs-Varianten, aber nur unter Verwendung visueller Suche, zu finden (Messwiederholung). Ihr Erfolg wurde gemessen anhand der gefundenen Such-Ziele pro Zeit. Weder Liste noch Tabelle zeigten statistisch signifikante Vorteile gegenüber der jeweils anderen Variante. Das zweite Experiment führte eine Baseline-Variante ein, die aus einer herkömmlichen Listen-basierten Darstellung ohne Highlighting bestand. Von dieser Änderung abgesehen, war das Experiment dem ersten recht ähnlich. Auch in diesem Experiment wurde kein statistisch signifikanter Unterschied zwischen den Darstellungs-Varianten gefunden. Für die anderen Facetten-Werte wurden Support-Mechanismen anhand einer Literatur-Suche identifiziert und im letzten Experiment verwendet. Die Haupt-Forschungsfrage wurde untersucht anhand von drei verschiedenen Such-Systemen, die sich einander ähnelten und auf dem ezDL-System basierten. Die erste Variante (baseline) war eine sehr vereinfachte Variante des ezDL-Systems, das außer einer Übersetzungs-Einrichtung keine Support-Mechanismen enthielt. Das zweite System war ein adaptives System, das Support-Mechanismen passend zur aktuellen Such-Aktion des Teilnehmers anbot. Das dritte System enthielt alle Support-Mechanismen des zweiten Systems für alle ISS-Klassen auf einmal. Versuchsteilnehmer wurden gebeten, Suchaufgaben mit einem der drei Systeme zu bearbeiten (ohne Messwiederholung). Ihr Erfolg wurde gemessen durch die Anzahl der gefundenen Dokumente pro Zeit. Kein statistisch signifikanter Unterschied zwischen den Systemen wurde gefunden.Longer search episodes comprise multiple search actions. These search actions can be grouped into several classes. The classification used in this work is the ISS classification by Belkin, Marchetti and Cool, which uses four facets (method, goal, mode and resource used), each of which has to values. Assuming that support features for each class are known, the research question was whether it is necessary to support each ISS class by a different search user interface in order to optimally help the user across many situations, or if a single interface can offer support mechanisms for any search action the user is being involved in. The research question was examined in three experiments. The ISS classification consists of 16 classes. Since studying the research question for all of these classes would have been too difficult, two facets, resource used and learning, were omitted, leaving the two facets method and mode with a total of four remaining classes for examination. Support mechanisms for each value of the two facets, scanning, searching, recognition, and specification, were gathered, assuming that the support mechanisms are as independent of each other as the underlying facets. Support features for the facet value recognition was examined in two experiments. The first experiment compared a table-based result list presentation with a list-based one using highlighting in terms of their support for visual search. Participants were asked to locate search targets in manufactured result lists using each of the result list variants solely by means of visual search (within-subjects design). Their success was measured by how many search targets they found per time. Neither list nor table provided a statistically significant advantage. The second experiment added a baseline result list without any support for visual search; apart of this, the experiment was very similar to the first one. Again, none of the studied result list variants showed statistically significant differences to any other. For the other facet values, the support mechanisms were gathered in a literature search, which identified some promising mechanisms which were then used in the last experiment. The main research question was examined using three search systems that were similar to each other. The first one (baseline) was a very basic variant of the ezDL system and provided no advanced support features other than a translation feature. The second system was an adaptive interface that provided support features only for the ISS class the user was being engaged in. The third system provided all support features of the second system for all ISS classes at once. Participants were asked to complete search tasks with one of the systems (between-subjects design). Their success was measured by how many of the required documents they could locate per time. None of the systems studied provided any statistically significant benefit over any of the other systems

Literacy intervention for adolescents: A review of Spanish language heritage instruction

This study is a systematic review of current research regarding Spanish language heritage instruction with a focus on middle and high school. With substantial evidence in the field at the elementary level indicating that literacy development of L1 supports the literacy development of L2, this study seeks to determine what current research shows regarding Spanish heritage instruction in middle and high school. Is there evidence of literacy gains in L2 English due to L1 Spanish instruction during adolescence? The final selection of studies from the systematic review includes a broad range of methodology, and correspondingly produces a broad range of results. Through thematic analysis, the key findings with evidence of L2 literacy gains include best practice strategies of collaboration, culturally relevant literature, and a specific connection to career pathway