Incorporating Metadata into Search User Interfaces
Marti Hearst
UC Berkeley
UCB Digital Libraries Seminar Oct 10, 2000
From http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/reports/npd.html
Web Search is Working!
Survey finds high user satisfactionStudy 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.
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.…
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.
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.…
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.
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.…
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.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. …
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
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hurc
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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