The Value of Multistage Search Systems for Book Search
Hugo Huurdeman, Jaap Kamps, Marijn Koolen, Sanna Kumpulainen · UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) · 2015
Abstract. Often, our exploratory quests for books are highly complex endeavors which feature activities such as exploration, searching, select-ing and comparing various books. Current systems for book search may not provide optimal support for this wide range of activities. The in-teractive Social Book Search Track investigates how users utilize differ-ent access interfaces in the context of two types of tasks, and evaluates a streamlined baseline interface and a rich multistage interface, poten-tially supporting different stages of search. In this paper, we analyze how these two types of interfaces influence user behavior, in terms of task duration, book selection and interaction patterns. Furthermore, we characterize the use of the different panels of the experimental multistage interface, as well as user engagement. We find initial evidence for the ad-ditional value of providing stage-based search support in the context of open-ended and focused book search tasks. 1