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Homosapien Information Behavior and CitySearch

Homosapien Information Behavior and CitySearch.com. INFO 310: Individual Perspectives on Information Systems Ryan Prins Anthony Trotter Jamie Yaptinchay. User Group. Description of the Information Behavior of the User Group. Our User Group. Who?

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Homosapien Information Behavior and CitySearch

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  1. Homosapien Information Behavior and CitySearch.com INFO 310: Individual Perspectives on Information Systems Ryan Prins Anthony Trotter Jamie Yaptinchay

  2. User Group Description of the Information Behavior of the User Group

  3. Our User Group Who? • College Students Looking for Entertainment in Their City Why? • To find out what information our user group finds important, useful, and are barriers in finding local entertainment. In addition, to determine what venues our user group typically chooses to find such information and why.

  4. Why? • College students are always looking for entertainment • Interesting to see how well CitySearch.com fulfills the information needs of college students. • College students are a very accessible user group to study

  5. What is CitySearch.com? • CitySearch.com allows users to look for various types of information: • Restaurants • Bars • Movies • Theatres • Hotels • Events

  6. Participant #1 – Anthony’s Interview User Identifying • Online or Offline? • Convenience • Lack of money for other resources • Frequency of Searching? • User’s typical resources? • NWSource, Ticketmaster, Google

  7. Participant #1 – Anthony’s Interview Human Information Behavior • User Searching Techniques? • Search Strategies (from the 5 search strategies)? • Browsing - “I didn’t really do much searching… there was a link, and it seemed like something I’d search for anyway.” • Empirical • Known-site (Ticketmaster) • Information Encountering (browse out of boredom) • Information Use not yet realized. Will be used in the future • Take me to bars later • Actions taken when barrier (or sense-making gap) encountered • Accept barrier and adapt to the CitySearch.com system • Sense-making • Anomalous States of Knowledge (ASK) • Information Searching Process (ISP)

  8. Participant #1 – Anthony’s Interview Site Improvements and Satisfaction Keepers! • Browsing Tabs (most important) Change It! • Add Proximity Preferences • Too Much Information. Simplicity! • Stupid Advertisements! Kill!

  9. Participant #2 – Jamie’s Interview User Identifying • Online Preference • Quick and Easy • Frequency of Searching • Resources Typically Used and Why • Yahoo!

  10. Participant #2 – Jamie’s Interview Human Information Behavior • How the User Searched • Problems Encountered During Information Searching • Excess of Information / Too Many Links • Solution: Trial and Error in Following Links

  11. Participant #2 – Jamie’s Interview Site Improvements and Satisfaction • It’s all about the Tabs… • Satisfaction at Current Offering of Features • Layout and the Importance of Pictures

  12. Participant #3 – Ryan’s Interview User Identifying • Prefers Online • Frequency of Search: 1 – 2 times / week • Friends as Resource First

  13. Participant #3 – Ryan’s Interview Human Information Behavior • Search Process • Location is Main Criteria • Important Information for User • Rating • Distance • Cost • Problems • Information Clutter

  14. Participant #3 – Ryan’s Interview Site Improvements and Satisfaction • Categorical Tabs • Satisfied With Current Feature Set • Pictures Were A Help • Simplicity is Key! • User Customizable Interface • User defined portal

  15. Commonalities in User Need • Proximity to Residence • Availability of Transportation • Cost

  16. Commonalities in User Demand • Succinct Information Presentation • Categorization by Tabs • Pictures as an Aid

  17. Commonalities in User Want • Categories • Search Mechanism

  18. Applying HIB Theory • Search Strategies • Browsing • Using Tabs • Empirical • What has worked in the past? • Known-site • Ticketmaster, Yahoo!, Google, etc… What’s your strategery?

  19. Applying HIB Theory (cont.) • Information Encountering • Information Use not yet realized. Will be used in the future • Take me to bars later • How Encountering Arose • Boredom • Felt the NEED to Do Something

  20. Applying HIB Theory (cont.) • Actions taken when barrier (or sense-making gap) encountered • Accept barrier and adapt to the CitySearch.com system • Sense-making • Sifting Through “Recommended” Information • Anomalous States of Knowledge (ASK) • Use of Directories Over Direct Search

  21. Applying HIB Theory (cont.) • Information Searching Process (ISP) • Initiation • First View of CitySearch.com • Selection • Committed to a Way of Searching • Exploration • Reading the Links • Formulation • Applying Criteria to Links • Collection • Processing What is Relevant to User • Presentation • Information Found and Bookmarked in Personal Information Collection *DING*

  22. CitySearch.com Evaluation of CitySearch.com and Its Ability to Help Our User Group

  23. What is CitySearch.com? • “The city guide to entertainment, restaurants, events, hotels, movies and businesses” • Various City Portals • A “One Stop Shop” for All Entertainment Needs

  24. CitySearch.com Demo http://www.citysearch.com

  25. Pros Wealth of Information Multiple Locations Tabbed Browsing Pictures Proximity Metrics Directions Cons Too Much Information Invasive Nature of Advertisements Pros and Cons Determined by the User Group

  26. Intended Audience • Young Adults • Special Events • Concerts • Movies • Restaurants • Adults • 21+ Events / Locations • Family Oriented • All the Above Listed

  27. Authority • Nature of Domain • Commercial Site (.com) • The Organization Who Compiled It • Ontario Inc. • Partners • Expedia, Evite, Entertainment.com, TicketMaster, Match.com, ReserveAmerica • Inclusion of Advertisements • Targeted Advertisements Prevalent Throughout

  28. Documentation Ways To Get Help and Learn About Advanced Features • Availability of “Help” Link Right Next to Our Users’ Beloved Tabs

  29. Format • Layout • Fonts • Effects • Blinking, Sound, Animation • Size • Number of Graphics

  30. Access and Organization • Navigation Methods • Search Features • Links • Categories • Lack of Language Options

  31. Quality of Information • Accuracy • Dependent on Third Party Information • Van Helsing Example • Completeness • The Amount of Information Available • Language • English Only, Variety of Language Style in User Reviews • Who Determines and Creates the Content? • CitySearch acts as a portal that compiles the outside information. • The Content is Created and Determined by Outside Sources (Al Qaeda)

  32. Privacy and Cost • No Registration is Required • Privacy Policy • http://seattle.citysearch.com/templates/profile/policy.html?cslink=bottombar_private_policy • No Fees Are Required to Use the Website • Advertisements

  33. CitySearch.com Ideas About Improvements

  34. To Fulfill Our User Group’s Needs • Inclusion of Cost as a Broader Search Criteria • Finding Entertainment within Certain Pre-Defined Proximity • More Succinct Information • Summary / Expanded Option • More Emphasis on Outdoor Recreation • Similar to Activities Found @ the WAC

  35. El Fin.

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