1. Information Seeking
An excerpt from Designing the Search Experience
Tyler Tate

3. R
e
s
o
u
r
c
e
i
n
t
a
k
e
Leave prior patch Arrive at new patch
Optimal point
to leave
current patch
Charnov’s marginal value theorem.

4. Informavore
creatures hungry for information

5. “What information consumes is rather obvious:
it consumes the attention of its recipients.
Hence a wealth of information creates a
poverty of attention, and a need to allocate
that attention efficiently among the over-
abundance of information sources that might
consume it.”
— Herbert Simon

6. Satisfice
Sacrifice the “perfect” for the “good enough”

7. Information scent
cues that lead the user in the right direction

8. When information scent grows stronger from
page to page, users are confident that they’re
headed in the right direction. But when it’s
weak, they may be uncertain about what to
do, or even give up.

9. 60% success rate
Words per link 7-8 11-12 15-16 19-20 23-24
Descriptive titles.

10. Relevant snippets with hit highlighting.

11. Clear labeling.

12. Faceted navigation.

13. The classic model of information retrieval.
Information
Need
Query Document
Representation
Document
Match

14. Task Information
Need
Verbal Form Query Search
Engine
Documents
Query
Results
The standard model of the search process.

15. Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5 Q6
Q7
The dynamic, or “berrypicking” model.

16. The information journey model.
Recognize
Need
Validate and
Interpret
Information
Find
Information
Use
Interpretation

17. Stages of information seeking.
Selection Exploration Formulation Collection Action
Initiation