Query Composition: Why Does It Have to Be So Hard?

Project Envision, a large research effort at Virginia Tech, focuses on developing a user centered multimedia database from the computer science literature with full-text searching and full-content retrieval capabilities. User interviews indicate that people have trouble composing queries. Widely available boolean retrieval systems present problems with both syntax and logic. Natural language queries for vector space retrieval systems are easier to compose but users complain that they do not understand the matching principles used; users also complain that they have too little control over the search and fear being overwhelmed by an enormous retrieval set. We describe the Envision query window which has as a usability goal making query composition easy while increasing user control. Results of formative usability evaluation and subsequent redesign are discussed

Seeing Things Your Way: Information Visualization for a User-Centered Database of Computer Science Literature

Project Envision is a user-centered multimedia database of computer science literature. Envision features powerful information visualization by displaying search results as a matrix of icons, with layout semantics under user control. Its Graphic View interacts with Item Summary and Preview Item windows to give users access to bibliographic information and abstracts. The concepts underlying these windows are being extended to a Graphical Browser for the full database and for hierarchical structures. This paper describes the development process and information visualization facilities in Envision search results and browsing displays