How kids see search: a visual analysis of internet search engines

Through previous studies into children’s internet search practice, we have gained insight into the taught strategies, information behaviour, and common errors children experience while searching. This paper analyses the visual structure of commonly-used internet search engines (ISEs) to explore how the interface and interaction design of ISEs may influence the search practices of children. Common features of ISEs are identified and the effects of query construction techniques on the visual presentation of information are reported. We use our observations to provide guidelines for the design and development of ISEs for childre

A study of children’s search query formulation habits

The strategies children use for digital information search in educational settings are rarely explored. Open questions remain on such fundamental issues as to which information-seeking strategies children employ, how they construct queries, and if the strategies that are taught are effective when using modern search engines. We conducted an observation study with school children to gain insights into these questions. As a result of this study, we identified query-creation and query-reformulation strategies that children use

Exploring orientation cues in both digital and physical books

Electronic books (eBooks) and eReaders are now a commonplace tool in the reading experience for many readers. Yet these have long received mixed reviews. Designing suitable interactions that support successful eReading experiences is a relevant task. This paper reports on an exploration of orientation cue designs for electronic books through consideration of design techniques implemented in both physical books (pBooks) and eBooks. We executed a case study of contemporary pBook and eBook orientation cue designs and report on the results of a heuristic evaluation with a small set of expert evaluators. Our findings identify the need for further investigation of the design of orientation cues for both pBooks and eBooks

A Snapshot of Reading, Searching, and Browsing Preferences of Tertiary Students

Unanswered questions remain regarding how to design search result pages in library catalogues that offer effective library seeking experiences for users — especially those designed for small screen mobile devices. This paper reports a snapshot interview of the user habits and preferences of tertiary library patrons during book searching and browsing and provides recommendations for library catalogue design and further research

Who was that? Enriched eReading through in-book visualisation

The shift to electronic books has opened a realm of possibilities for assisting users in reading books, but little of this potential has been realised. Today’s eReaders offer simple search features but rarely make any ongoing supportive data about a book’s content available. We investigated the use of visual aids for eBook reading and developed an eReader prototype. Our prototype provides a timeline of character appearances throughout a book, coupled with interactive identifications and lists of characters as they appear within the narrative. We present results of a user study in which we observe that contextually-relevant information can enhance a reader’s experience