Anticipatory Design: Improving Search UX using Query Analysis and Machine Cues
Jason A. Clark · Weave Journal of Library User Experience · 2016
This paper was refereed by Weave's peer reviewers. This article looks at how inferred and contextual aspects of a search query can offer new ways of thinking about the search results page. Data mining for user context requires using techniques to understand the intentions behind search queries and the physical/network locations of our users. By applying the residual machine cues inherent to the search act and using semantic query analysis, we can improve user experience to anticipate user needs and introduce personal context. This is anticipatory design in practice. In the article, I define the components of anticipatory design, consider the privacy implications of anticipatory systems, examine how our search interfaces as a primary interaction model lend themselves to anticipatory design, and look at how inferred and contextual cues can be brought into a search prototype to improve the search user experience.