When it comes to emerging technologies, older adults are often those who can greatly benefit from the advancements but are vastly under-represented in research and designs. This study presents preliminary findings of older adults' search behavior with a spoken conversational search agent which represents the next generation search paradigm. Our findings show that, compared with their younger counterparts, older adults' search conversations lasted longer and included more requests. Their requests had greater length and tended to have a lower proportion of unique words, more grammatically complex sentences and short pauses. In addition, the older subjects preferred to start a request with "I" and request questions with modal verbs were less frequent. They reformulated spoken requests as competently as did younger adults but elaborations on requests were uniquely founded among older adults. They also tended to have more than one query or question in a single request and rephrasing requests was more frequently observed than younger adults. System implications and future research directions are discussed.

Abstract This paper addresses the importance of improving the effectiveness of voice search systems through partial query modification. A user‐centered experiment was designed to compare the effectiveness of an experimental system using partial query modification feature to a baseline system in which users could issue complete queries only, with 32 participants each searching on eight different tasks. The results indicate that the participants spent significantly more time preparing the modification but significantly less time speaking the modification by using the experimental system than by using the baseline system. The participants found that the experimental system (a) was more effective, (b) gave them more control, (c) was easier for the search tasks, and (d) saved them time than the baseline system. The results contribute to improving future voice search system design and benefiting the research community in general. System implications and future work were discussed.

This article investigates how to improve the effectiveness of voice search systems. Earlier research found that participants employed voice search much less frequently than keyboard search. The main reasons that participants disliked voice search are system mistakes and the inability to modify queries. In keyboard search, query reformulation is facilitated by partial query modification, which is not supported by most of the current voice search systems. Consequently, users need to speak the complete query in voice search even with only minor changes. This article focuses on examining partial query modification during voice search through a Wizard of Oz user experiment. It examines if users would prefer partial query modification and how they perform it in voice search. Thirty‐two participants participated in the experiment. Results indicated that when given the opportunity, the users performed more partial query modifications than complete queries. Common partial query modification strategies and patterns emerged from the experiment. The results can be used to improve the voice search system design and benefit the research community in general. System implications and future work were discussed.

Abstract We report on a study that investigated the efficacy of four different interactive information retrieval (IIR) systems, each designed to support a specific information‐seeking strategy (ISS). These systems were constructed using different combinations of IR techniques (i.e., combinations of different methods of representation, comparison, presentation and navigation), each of which was hypothesized to be well suited to support a specific ISS. We compared the performance of searchers in each such system, designated “experimental,” to an appropriate “baseline” system, which implemented the standard specified query and results list model of current state‐of‐the‐art experimental and operational IR systems. Four within‐subjects experiments were conducted for the purpose of this comparison. Results showed that each of the experimental systems was superior to its baseline system in supporting user performance for the specific ISS (that is, the information problem leading to that ISS) for which the system was designed. These results indicate that an IIR system, which intends to support more than one kind of ISS, should be designed within a framework which allows the use and combination of different IR support techniques for different ISSs.

Abstract Many studies have demonstrated that people engage in a variety of different information behaviors when engaging in information seeking. However, standard information retrieval systems such as Web search engines continue to be designed to support mainly one such behavior, specified searching. This situation has led to suggestions that people would be better served by information retrieval systems which support different kinds of information‐seeking strategies. This article reports on an experiment comparing the retrieval effectiveness of an integrated interactive information retrieval (IIR) system which adapts to support different information‐seeking strategies with that of a standard baseline IIR system. The experiment, with 32 participants each searching on eight different topics, indicates that using the integrated IIR system resulted in significantly better user satisfaction with search results, significantly more effective interaction, and significantly better usability than that using the baseline system.

This paper reports on an experiment comparing the retrieval effectiveness of an interactive information retrieval (IIR) system which adapts to support different information seeking strategies, with that of a standard baseline IIR system. The experiment, with 32 subjects each searching on 8 different topics, indicates that using the integrated IIR system resulted in significantly better performance, including user satisfaction with search results, significantly more effective interaction, and significantly better usability than using the baseline system.

This research explores the relationship between information-seeking strategies (ISSs) and information retrieval (IR) system design. When people seek information they engage in a variety of ISSs in order to search for specific items, learn about the contents of the database, evaluate retrieved information, and so on.The theoretical foundations of the work are based on the information-seeking episode model developed by Belkin (1996), and the multi-facet classification scheme of information behaviors proposed by Cool & Belkin (2002).The goal of this research is to construct and evaluate an interactive retrieval system which uses different combinations of IR techniques to support different ISSs. Example IR techniques include comparison using exact and probabilistic matching algorithms; summarization of information objects using titles, snippets or abstracts; visualization techniques such as lists or classified results; and navigation techniques such as scrolling or following links. By designing a retrieval system with diverse strategies in mind, we can adaptively support multiple ISSs, permitting a user to move seamlessly from one strategy to another, choosing instantiations of each support technique tailored to the specific ISS.The research will be conducted in a series of four steps. (1) Develop an object-oriented framework for representing basic IR techniques. (2) Design, implement and evaluate systems which support individual ISSs such as browsing and searching. (3) Specify an interaction structure for guiding and controlling sequences of different supporting techniques.(4) Design, implement, and evaluate a dynamically adaptive system supporting multiple ISSs in comparison to a non-adaptive baseline system.

Query length in best-match information retrieval (IR) systems is well known to be positively related to effectiveness in the IR task, when measured in experimental, non-interactive environments. However, in operational, interactive IR systems, query length is quite typically very short, on the order of two to three words. We report on a study which tested the effectiveness of a particular query elicitation technique in increasing initial searcher query length, and which tested the effectiveness of queries elicited using this technique, and the relationship in general between query length and search effectiveness in interactive IR. Results show that the specific technique results in longer queries than a standard query elicitation technique, that this technique is indeed usable, that the technique results in increased user satisfaction with the search, and that query length is positively correlated with user satisfaction with the search.

We describe results from an ongoing project that considers question types and document features and their relationship to retrieval techniques. We examine eight document features from the top 25 documents retrieved from 74 questions and find that lists and FAQs occur in more documents judged relevant to task-oriented questions than those judged relevant to fact-oriented questions.