incorporating metadata into search user interfaces

Incorporating Metadata into Search User Interfaces

Marti HearstUC Berkeley

UCB Digital Libraries Seminar Oct 10, 2000

From http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/reports/npd.html

Web Search is Working!Survey finds high user satisfaction

Study by npd group

From http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/reports/npd.html

Web Search is Working!Survey finds high user satisfaction

(a recent upswing – the decline was caused by an increase in # of pages indexed)

From http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/reports/npd.html

Web Search is Working!Why? Queries are still short!

Average query length currently ~2.4 words (Doug Cook, Inktomi)

My guess:

Web Search is Successful at Finding Good Starting Points (home pages)

Evidence

Web search engines are heavily using Link analysis Page popularity Interwoven categories

These all find dominant home pages

Consequences

Web search engines are providing source selection! A side note:

A digital library issue as well. DL’s make people do this step explicitly. People don’t generally like this!

What happens at the site? Follow hyperlinks or use site search

Following Hyperlinks

Works great when it is clear where to go next

Frustrating when the desired directions are undiscernable or unavailable

Site Search

This is not getting good reviews Large, disorganized results sets

An Analogy

text searchhypertext

Analogy

Hypertext: A fixed number of choices of where to go next; A glance at the map tells you where you are; But may not go where you want to go.

To get from Topeka to Santa Fe, may have to go through Frostbite Falls

Site Search: Can go anywhere; But may get stuck, disoriented, in a crevass!

Goal: An All-Tertrain Vehicle

The best of both techniques A vehicle that magically lays down track to

suggest choices of where you want to go next based on what you’ve done so far and what you are trying to do

The tracks follow the lay of the land and go everywhere, but cross over the crevasses

The tracks allow you to back up easily

How to make an all-tertrain vehicle?

Two ideas:Focus on the task.Use metadata explicitly.

The Importance of the Task Results from HCI suggest the importance

of taking the task into account.

Searching patent databases vs. Proving non-infringement Browsing newsgroups vs. Finding the denial-of-service hacker Getting all satellite news vs. Anticipating the competition

The Importance of the Task: Indirect Evidence

How does Web page download time effect usability? In one study, Spool found:

(56kbit modem) Amazon: 36 sec/page (avg) About.com: 8 sec/page (avg)

Users rated the sites: Fastest: Amazon Slowest: About.com

Why?

The Importance of the Task

Perceived speed Strong correlation between perceived speed

and whether the users felt they completed their task

Strong correlation between perceived speed and whether the users felt they always knew what to do next (scent).

Metadata

Metadata types

Time/Date Topic RoleGeoRegion

Content-based Metadata

Medical text Anatomy, Disease, Chemicals, Procedures…

Architectural images Location, Style, Materials, Period …

Recipes! Cuisine, Ingredients, Season, Calories …

Example: SOAR vs. epicurious

soar.berkeley.edu/recipes

soar.berkeley.edu/recipes

soar.berkeley.edu/recipes

soar.berkeley.edu/recipes

www.epicurious.com

www.epicurious.com

www.epicurious.com

www.epicurious.com

Epicurious Metadata Usage

Advantages Creates combinations of metadata on the fly Different metadata choices show the same information in

different ways Previews show how many recipes will result Easy to back up Supports several task types

``Help me find a summer pasta,'' (ingredient type with event type), ``How can I use an avocado in a salad?'' (ingredient type with dish type), ``How can I bake sea-bass'' (preparation type and ingredient type)

Epicurious Metadata UsageProblem: lacks integration with search

What about Yahoo?

Routes through the metadata are Predefined Unstable (due to symbolic links) Long (due to bad mixing of metadata) Example: Where is Berkeley?

College and University > Colleges and Universities >United States > U > University of California > Campuses > Berkeley

U.S. States > California > Cities >Berkeley > Education > College and University > Public > UC Berkeley

Yahoo using metadata well

Yahoo restaurant guide combines: Region Topic (restaurants) Related Information

Other attributes (cuisines) Other topics related in place and time (movies)

Green: restaurants & attributes

Red: related in place & time

Yellow: geographic region

Combining Information Types

Region State

City

A & E Film Theatre Music Restaurants

California Eclectic Indian French Assumed task: looking for

evening entertainment

Other Possible Combinations

Region + A&E City + Restaurant + Movies City + Weather City + Education: Schools Restaurants + Schools …

Bookstore preview combinations topic + related topics topic + publications by same author topic + books of same type but related topic

Problems with Metadata Usage

Standard approaches Paths are hand-edited, predefined Not well-integrated with search Not tailored to task as it develops Not personalized Not dynamic

A new project: FLAMENCOFLexible Access using MEtadata in Novel COmbinations Main ideas:

Make metadata an explicit part of the interface, but in a highly-usable manner

Preview and postview choices Determine views dynamically and (semi)

automatically, using a task-based model

Flamenco: Dynamic Previews

Medical example Allow user to select metadata in any order At each step, show different types of relevant

metadata, based on prior steps and personal history, include # of documents

Previews restricted to only those metadata types that might be helpful

Asthma > Steroids

1. A steroid-induced acute psychosis in a child with athsma.2. Management of steroid-dependent asthma with methotrexate.

Steroids•Pregnanes• Pregnadienes (5)• Prednisone (5)• Pregnenes• Budesonide (4)• Corticosterone (3)

Other Views• Admin & Dosage (50)• Drug Effects (20• Therapeutic Use (25)• Risk Factors (4)• More …

User Preferred• Musculoskeletal (4)•Drug Resistance (6)

•All Categories (99)

99 Documents: [Sort by author] [Sort by popularity] [Sort by Steroids] [Cluster] 1. Effect of short-course budesonide on the bone turnover of asthmatic children.2. Effect of prednisone on response to influenza virus vaccine in asthmatic children.…

Asthma > Steroids

1. A steroid-induced acute psychosis in a child with athsma.2. Management of steroid-dependent asthma with methotrexate.

Steroids•Pregnanes• Pregnadienes (5)• Prednisone (5)• Pregnenes• Budesonide (4)• Corticosterone (3)

Other Views• Admin & Dosage (50)• Drug Effects (20• Therapeutic Use (25)• Risk Factors (4)• More …

User Preferred• Musculoskeletal (4)•Drug Resistance (6)

•All Categories (99)

99 Documents: [Sort by author] [Sort by popularity] [Sort by Steroids] [Cluster] 1. Effect of short-course budesonide on the bone turnover of asthmatic children.2. Effect of prednisone on response to influenza virus vaccine in asthmatic children.…

Asthma > Steroids

1. A steroid-induced acute psychosis in a child with athsma.2. Management of steroid-dependent asthma with methotrexate.

Steroids•Pregnanes Pregnadienes (5) Prednisone (5)• Pregnenes Budesonide (4) Corticosterone (3)

Other Views• Admin & Dosage (50)• Drug Effects (20• Therapeutic Use (25)• Risk Factors (4)• More …

User Preferred• Musculoskeletal (4)•Drug Resistance (6)

•All Categories (99)

99 Documents: [Sort by author] [Sort by popularity] [Sort by Steroids] [Cluster] 1. Effect of short-course budesonide on the bone turnover of asthmatic children.2. Effect of prednisone on response to influenza virus vaccine in asthmatic children.…

Asthma > Steroids > Admin & Dosage

1. Dosage levels for asthmatic steroids: A survey.

Steroids•Pregnanes Pregnadienes (3) Prednisone (5)

Related Categories•Inhalators (40)•Emotional Effects (25)•Preferred Suppliers (30)

User Preferred• Musculoskeletal (0)•Drug Resistance (2)

•All Categories (50)

50 Documents: [Sort by author] [Sort by popularity] [Sort by Dosage] [Cluster]

1. Optimal dosage levels for prednisone in the treatment of childhood asthma.2. …

Other paths: back up and go forward

Asthma > Steroids > Budesonide > Huang

Asthma > Huang > Budesonide

Asthma > Steroids

Asthma > Steroids > Budesonide

Dynamic Metadata Previews

How different from Yahoo & Amazon? Dynamically determine what to show next

Yahoo’s combos are predefined Amazon’s are also predefined, and limited to taste

and general topic only A way to seamlessly integrate

Related topics User preferences (personalization) Context-sensitivity

Evaluation Methodology

Regression Test Select a set of tasks

Use these throughout the evaluation Start with a baseline system

Evaluate using the test tasks Add a feature

Evaluation again Compare to baseline Only retain those changes that improve results

Image Search

Content analysis is making strides Rich hand-assigned metadata is available But most search based on

Keyword matching (alltheweb/lycos multimedia) Image-component based querying (QBIC) Overall similarity to sample image (Blobworld) Combo of keyword and image component

Image Search: What is the task?

Illustrate my slides? “Find a crevasse” Keyword match works pretty well

Find inspiration for an architectural design? General similarity: maybe But more control might be better

Blo

bwor

ld

Slide by Ame Elliott

Architects’ Image Use Work practices

Observations from personal design experience, and surveys of designers

Common activities for image use Browsing most common at early stages of design Collage making, sketching, pinning up on walls

Cultural and social practice Designers learn how to do this in schools Ways of communicating with images varies with

organization

Slide by Ame Elliott

Current Problems Browsing Images On-Line Current on-line image collections offer few

advantages over paper collections Lose papers’ ease of manipulation Little gain in accessibility

Queries are textual and must be well-formed Not appropriate for the early phases of design when

image browsing is critical Image search engines don’t follow good UI design

in general Poor support for search starting points, collection

visualization

Slide by Ame Elliott

Creating Browsing Scenarios Rationale

Learned about search strategies and how architects look for images now

3 design scenarios presented to 2 architects “Add handicapped ramp to entrance of suburban

home” “Design addition to children’s home in a Victorian

mansion” “Design a maritime cultural center on the beach in

San Diego”

Slide by Ame Elliott

Results of Interviews

Were they believable professional problems? Yes

How would they browse for images to help with these tasks? Gathered lists of terms Learned some ideas about strategies High degree of consistency between interviewees

How different from medical example?

More open-ended Easier to scan many images quickly Tertrain metaphor not used here

Not narrowing down a large set Rather, always viewing more images A mechanism for “steering” through the

metadata

SPIRO:>40,000 art & architecture imagesDetailed metadata

SPIRO Query Form

SP

IRO

que

ry o

n S

ubje

ct: c

hurc

h

A Better Example

Greatbuildings.com Hyperlinks metadata together But a small collection

~1000 buildings ~4500 images total

www.greatbuildings.com

www.greatbuildings.com

www.greatbuildings.com

www.greatbuildings.com

www.greatbuildings.com

www.greatbuildings.com

www.greatbuildings.com

The Approach Create an architecture that allows

experimentation with different approaches Add functionality in a stepwise fashion Architecture task:

Emphasize images over text Use greatbuildings-style interface as a reasonable

baseline for comparison Find out how much choice is too much Find out whether explicit metadata is better than

implicit more-like-this

Summary

Standard search is too flexible Hyperlinks too restrictive Flamenco:

Task-centric search interfaces Integrate metadata with search Dynamic previews Easily retrace steps Systematically determine what works for real users