Evaluating Advanced Search Interfaces using Established Information-Seeking Models

Abstract

When users have poorly defined or complex goals, keyword searching may not provide sufficient support. Subsequently, more advanced systems are being developed to support richer modes of search. This paper presents a formative framework for evaluating advancing search systems, which are providing more versatile environments that become increasingly hard to compare. This is done by quantifying their strengths and weaknesses in supporting user tactics and varying user conditions. This framework combines established models of users, user needs, and user behaviours to achieve this. The framework is applied to evaluate three advanced search interfaces and shows promising results