Authors:
Abhishek Kaushik
and
Gareth J. F. Jones
Affiliation:
ADAPT Centre, School of Computing, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
Keyword(s):
Conversational Search Interface, Conventional Search, User Satisfaction, Human Computer Interaction, Information Retrieval.
Abstract:
Conversational search applications offer the prospect of improved user experience in information seeking via agent support. However, it is not clear how searchers will respond to this mode of engagement, in comparison to a conventional user-driven search interface, such as those found in a standard web search engine. We describe a laboratory-based study directly comparing user behaviour for a conventional search interface (CSI) with that of an agent-mediated multiview conversational search interface (MCSI) which extends the CSI.
User reaction and search outcomes of the two interfaces are compared using implicit evaluation using five analysis methods:
workload-related factors (NASA Load Task), psychometric evaluation for the software, knowledge expansion, user interactive experience and search satisfaction. Our investigation using scenario-based search tasks shows the MCSI to be more interactive and engaging, with users
claiming to have a better search experience in contrast to a c
orresponding standard search interface.
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