Visualization of Search Results: A Comparative Evaluation of Text, 2D, and 3D Interfaces

Published

May 15, 1999

Author(s)

M M. Sebrechts, J Vasilakis, M S. Miller, John V. Cugini, Sharon J. Laskowski

Abstract

Although there have been many prototypes of visualization in support of information retrieval, there has been little systematic evaluation that distinguishes the benefits of the visualization per se from that of various accompanying features. The current study focuses on such an evaluation of NIRVE, a tool that supports visualization of search results. Insofar as possible, functionally equivalent 3D, 2D, and text versions of NIRVE were implemented. Nine novices and six professional users completed a series of information-seeking tasks on a set of retrieved documents. There were high interface costs for the 3D visualization, although those costs decreased substantially with experience. Performance was best when the tool s properties matched task demands; only under the right combination of task, user, and interface did 3D visualization show any advantage over functionally matched 2D and textual tools.

Citation

ACM/SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

3D user interface, evaluation, information retrieval, information visualization, search results

Citation

Sebrechts, M. , Vasilakis, J. , Miller, M. , Cugini, J. and Laskowski, S. (1999), Visualization of Search Results: A Comparative Evaluation of Text, 2D, and 3D Interfaces, ACM/SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (Accessed October 9, 2025)