Clustering-Based Visual Interfaces for Presentation of Web Search Results: An Empirical Investigation

• Published in: Information systems frontiers Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 273 - 297
• Main Authors: Turetken, Ozgur, Sharda, Ramesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Nature B.V 01.07.2005
• Subjects: Documents; Information overload; Information retrieval; Information systems; Interfaces; Methods; Search engines; Searches; Studies; Success; Visualization
• ISSN: 1387-3326; 1572-9419
• DOI: 10.1007/s10796-005-2770-7

The result of a typical web search is often overwhelming. In order to improve the utility of the search experience, this paper explore presenting search results through clustering and a zoomable two-dimensional map (zoomable treemap). Furthermore, it applies the fisheye view technique to this map of web search clusters to provide details in context. In this study, an evaluation of these presentation features is repoted. The particular interfaces evaluated were: 1. a textual list, 2. a zoomable two-dimensional map of the clustered results, and 3. a fisheye version of the zoomable two-dimensional map where the results were clustered. It is found that subjects completed search tasks faster with the visual interfaces than with the textual interface, and faster with the fisheye interface than just the zoomable interface. Based on the findings, it is concluded that there is promise in the use of clustering and visualization with a fisheye zooming capability in the exploration of web search results.