Transcript Document

Once Found, What Then?:
A Study of "Keeping" Behaviors in
the Personal Use of Web
Information
William Jones, Harry Bruce
The Information School
University of Washington
Susan Dumais
Microsoft Research
The Problem


Finding things is a well-studied
problem.
Keeping things found is not so wellstudied but arises in many domains:
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Everyday objects in our lives
Personal files – paper and electronic
Email
The Web
Related Work
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Organizing personal files
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Files & “piles”, (Malone, 1983)
Location memory is limited, (Jones & Dumais,
1986)
Preference for browsing, (Barreau & Nardi,
1995); but see Fertig, Freeman & Gelernter
(1996) for a rebuttal.
Organizing email
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Similar use patterns, similar problems as for
personal files, (Whittaker & Sidner, 1996)
Related Work (cont.)

Organizing the Web
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Widespread use of “Bookmarks”, (Pitkow &
Kehoe, 1996)
Steady increase in number with time, (Abrams
Baecker & Chignell, 1998)
Increasing use of folders, (Abrams et al., 1998)
Frequent use of “Back” button within a session;
infrequent use of “History”, (Tauscher &
Greenberg, 1997)
Overall Research Objectives
We’re looking for answers to the following questions:
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How do people manage information for
re-access and re-use? How do people
“keep found things found”?
What problems do people encounter?
What can be done to help?
Our Initial Focus: The Web
The Research Plan

Study 1: Observe “keeping” activities as participants
complete work-related, web-intensive tasks in their
workplace.
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Study 2: Observe efforts to “re-find” web information
for a subset of these same participants.
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Ongoing. 13 participants in all; 9 have completed.
Analyze video recordings of Study 1 and Study 2.
Survey a larger group.


Completed. 24 participants in all.
Initiated.
Prototype selectively.
Study 1: The Participants
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6 Researchers.
9 Information professionals --

9 Managers.

including
librarians and corporate information specialists.
Participants
… may approach web information differently:
 Researchers – have “direct contact” with information.
 Information professionals – are mediators.
 Managers – receive filtered information from
colleagues, subordinates, their boss, etc.
Study 1: The Procedure

Prior to the observation
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Participants completed an email questionnaire…
and listed at least three work-related, web-intensive “freetime” tasks.
One task was selected for the observation.
During the observation
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Participants were observed in their own workplace.
Sessions lasted about an hour.
An “over-the-shoulder” video recording was made of
participants as they “thought-aloud” while working on the
task.
Participants handled office interruptions (phone calls,
visitors, etc.) as they normally would.
Study 1: The Results
Many “keeping” methods were observed:
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Send email to self.
Send email to others.
Print out the web page.
Save the web page as a file.
Paste URL into a document.
Add hyperlink to a web site.
Do nothing (and enter URL directly later, search for or
access from another web site).
Bookmark the page.
Write down the URL on paper.
A Functional Analysis
Several functions appear to influence the choice
of method:
 Reminding
 Context
 Portability of information
 Number of access points
 Ease of access
A Functional Analysis (cont.)
Additional functions:
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Persistence of information
Preservation of information in its current
state
Currency of information
Ease of integration
Communication and information sharing
Ease of maintenance
Portability
Number of
access points
Persistence
Preservation
Currency
Context
Reminding
Ease of
integration
Communication
Ease of
maintenance
A Functional Analysis (cont.)
Email to self
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
High
Med
Low
Med
Email to others
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
Low
Low?
High
High
Print-out
High
High
High
Low
Low
Low
High
Med
High
Med
Save as file
Med?
Low?
High
High
Low
Low
Low
Med?
Low
Med
Low
Low?
Low
Med
High
High
High?
High?
Low
High
Personal web site
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
High?
High
Med
High?
Search
Low
High
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
?
Low
High
Direct entry
Low
High
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
?
Low
High
Bookmarks
Low
Low
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
History
Low
Low
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
Low?
Low
?
Paste
URL
document
in
Portability
Number of
access points
Persistence
Preservation
Currency
Context
Reminding
Ease of
integration
Communication
Ease of
maintenance
A Functional Analysis (cont.)
Email to self
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
High
Med
Low
Med
Email to others
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
Low
Low?
High
High
Print-out
High
High
High
Low
Low
Low
High
Med
High
Med
Save as file
Med?
Low?
High
High
Low
Low
Low
Med?
Low
Med
Low
Low?
Low
Med
High
High
High?
High?
Low
High
Personal web site
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
High?
High
Med
High?
Search
Low
High
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
?
Low
High
Direct entry
Low
High
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
?
Low
High
Bookmarks
Low
Low
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
History
Low
Low
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
Low?
Low
?
Paste
URL
document
in
Portability
Number of
access points
Persistence
Preservation
Currency
Context
Reminding
Ease of
integration
Communication
Ease of
maintenance
A Functional Analysis (cont.)
Email to self
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
High
Med
Low
Med
Email to others
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
Low
Low?
High
High
Print-out
High
High
High
Low
Low
Low
High
Med
High
Med
Save as file
Med?
Low?
High
High
Low
Low
Low
Med?
Low
Med
Low
Low?
Low
Med
High
High
High?
High?
Low
High
Personal web site
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
High?
High
Med
High?
Search
Low
High
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
?
Low
High
Direct entry
Low
High
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
?
Low
High
Bookmarks
Low
Low
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
History
Low
Low
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
Low?
Low
?
Paste
URL
document
in
Portability
Number of
access points
Persistence
Preservation
Currency
Context
Reminding
Ease of
integration
Communication
Ease of
maintenance
A Functional Analysis (cont.)
Email to self
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
High
Med
Low
Med
Email to others
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
Low
Low?
High
High
Print-out
High
High
High
Low
Low
Low
High
Med
High
Med
Save as file
Med?
Low?
High
High
Low
Low
Low
Med?
Low
Med
Low
Low?
Low
Med
High
High
High?
High?
Low
High
Personal web site
Low
High
Low
Med
High
High
High?
High
Med
High?
Search
Low
High
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
?
Low
High
Direct entry
Low
High
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
?
Low
High
Bookmarks
Low
Low
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
History
Low
Low
Low
Med
High
Low
Low
Low?
Low
?
Paste
URL
document
in
Other Notables
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Participants seemed to distinguish between
three categories.
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Web sites used repeatedly – make it easy to
access.
Web sites used infrequently but important to be
able to access.
Web sites to check out later to see if useful.
Participants distinguished in different ways.
Other Notables (cont.)
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Some participants went to great lengths to
maintain a single hierarchy.
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Print web pages to file with other papers.
Save email documents to filing system for e-docs.
Work with assistant to establish consistent
organizations across paper documents, e-docs,
email & favorites.
Keeping practices appear to vary with a
person’s job and relationship to information.
Study 2: Delayed Cued Recall

A second study looks at how/how well people
are able to get back to web sites.
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Session 1: Participant describes each in a set of
web sites they have visited recently – without
including name or URL.
Session 2, 3-6 months later: Participants are cued
with these descriptions and told to get back to the
site as best they can. We observe methods used
and problems encountered.
Study 2: Results So Far…
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Success rate is high – 142 out of 151 trials or 94%
The site is usually located using the method first
attempted -- 123 out of 142 trials or 87% of the
time.
The most common of these “first methods” were:
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Direct entry of a URL – 51 of 123 trials or 41%
Favorites – 32 of 123 trials or 26%
Web search – 29 of 123 trials or 24%
Following a hyper link from another web site – 23 of 123
trials or 19%
Prototyping
… as driven by the data. Simple extensions to
Add Favorites to support the following
options:
 Add a comment.
 Save Favorite to filing system.
 Email Favorite.
The Prototype
Conclusions
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People use a diversity of methods to
organize web information for re-access
and re-use.
A functional analysis can help us to
understand the diversity of methods
observed and their relative popularity.
Conclusions (cont.)
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Methods differ in the functions they
provide.
No single current method provides all
the functions a user may need.
The relative importance of functions
(and hence the choice of methods)
depends upon the task at hand.
Conclusions (cont.)

A “natural” study of people doing tasks
in their workplace can be very useful.
Observations and speculations
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Participants appear to be effective at returning to a
site. Success rate is high and the first method
chosen usually works.
Direct entry, search and “hyperlink to” account for
83% of successful first-try methods for re-access.
These methods require no keeping activity up front.
Does this reflect a trend? Will improved finding tools
eliminate the need for keeping activities?
But… participants sometimes searched in several
different “places” before finding a web site (or
sometimes giving up).
Next Steps
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Complete our analysis of video data.
Continue to collect survey data.
Extend and validate the functional
analysis.
Broaden our exploration to look at how
people manage information across
organizational schemes.
For More Information

http://kftf.ischool.washington.edu/
Managers
Information
Specialists
Researchers
Use of keeping methods by
participant group
# of participants
4
Email to self
75%
25%
0%
Email to others
25%
0%
100%
Print-out
50%
13%
17%
Save as file
25%
0%
0%
Paste URL in document
75%
13%
0%
Personal web site
25%
0%
0%
Bookmark (Favorite)
50%
88%
33%
Notes on paper
0%
25%
0%
Links toolbar
0%
13%
17%
Outlook "Note"
0%
13%
0%
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