Search User Interfaces

Description

The truly world-wide reach of the Web has brought with it a new realisation of the enormous importance of usability and user interface design. In the last ten years, much has become understood about what works in search interfaces from a usability perspective, and what does not. Researchers and practitioners have developed a wide range of innovative interface ideas, but only the most broadly acceptable make their way into major web search engines. This book summarizes these developments, presenting the state of the art of search interface design, both in academic research and in deployment in commercial systems. Many books describe the algorithms behind search engines and information retrieval systems, but the unique focus of this book is specifically on the user interface. It will be welcomed by industry professionals who design systems that use search interfaces as well as graduate students and academic researchers who investigate information systems.

Marti A. Hearst is a Professor in the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley. She received B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley and was a Member of the Research Staff at Xerox PARC from 1994 to 1997. A primary focus of Hearst's research is user interfaces for search. She has invented or participated in several well-known search interface projects including Scatter/Gather clustering of search results, TileBars query term visualization, BioText search over the bioscience literature, and the Flamenco project that investigated and promoted the use of faceted metadata for collection navigation. She has published extensively on this and other topics. Hearst has advised more than fifty masters-level interface design projects, from problem formation and needs assessment through three rounds of evaluation. She has also taught Information Organization and Retrieval and a course called Search Engines: Technology, Society, and Business, which includes a set of popular video lectures.

'Marti A. Hearst's Search User Interfaces benefits from the focus and coordination that comes more naturally in a single-authored book. [An] acknowledged expert in the field, Hearst brings a clear focus to an impressive range of topics.' Miles Efron, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 'Many people think designing a search user interface is as simple as copying what someone else does. There are a lot of complex issues below the surface and this is the first book to explain all of the research in a way that a practitioner like me can apply it. If you want to design innovative search user interfaces, you need this book close at hand at all times.' Keith Instone, Information Architecture Lead, IBM.com User Experience Design 'A comprehensive guide, not to how search works but how we humans work with search to satisfy our information needs. A must-read for anyone concerned with usability and creating the optimal user experience for searchers.' Chris Sherman, Executive Editor, Search Engine Land 'With a loud clear trumpet blast Marti A. Hearst announces a new scientific research domain, with emerging theories, a clear research agenda, and a compelling opportunity to influence vital technologies. Her book provides powerful insights for experts and is a vital guide for those coming into the field. It is difficult to convey my satisfaction and enthusiasm for Marti A. Hearst's remarkable analysis of the emerging scientific research domain of search user interfaces. Hearst's brilliant organization, lucid writing, and admirably comprehensive review (600+ references) are gifts to scholars, implementers, and students who want to contribute to the flourishing activity in user interfaces for information search and retrieval. Her devotion to evidence-based analysis from user and usage studies lays a compelling scientific foundation for future contributions.' Ben Schneiderman, University of Maryland 'Professor Hearst has given us the definitive work on search user interfaces; grounded in the theory and practice of information retrieval and human-computer interaction and brimming with examples and clear explanations, this landmark book will serve the needs of students, practitioners, and scholars for years ahead.' Guy Marchionini, Boshamer Professor, University of North Carolina 'Marti A. Hearst has written an impressively comprehensive and authoritative account of search interfaces, bringing together the state of the art in search sites with the large and rapidly growing body of scientific research that explains what works and why. This book will be an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to get below the surface of search - to analyze and create search interfaces and to understand the full range of issues, problems, and new potentials for design.' Terry Winograd, Stanford University, California 'This will be seen as a transformational book, one that synthesized a new and coherent discipline of human information interaction out of literature and experience scattered across many fields. Professor Hearst has read everything. There is no book like it that puts together so completely the new technical foundations for a user-centered design of information systems. Search User Interfaces should be required reading for anyone who would study or design such systems.' Stuart Card, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), California