ADVANCED techniques to support THE DESIGN OF WEBSITES INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE BASED ON MODELS OF HUMAN-INFORMATION INTERACTIONChristos Katsanos (ckatsanos@ece.upatras.gr)HCI Group, University of Patras, Greece

Purpose & MotivationIncrease objectivity & efficiency for the design & evaluation of websites information organizationAspects addressedStructural designLinks’ LabelingBoth aspects addressed greatly affect User ExperienceExisting approaches are often neglected: Time & Cost constraints Increased complexity of data analysisLarge & Rapidly-changing web sitesHard to go from user-research to the design itself

Proposed approach at a glanceTwo tool-based methods:Automated Card Sorting Tool (AutoCardSorter)InfoScent Evaluator Tool (ISEtool)Based on Information Foraging Theory Semantic Similarity Algorithms (e.g. Latent Semantic Analysis)Mathematical/Statistical techniques (e.g. cluster analysis, eigenvalue analysis)

Katsanos C., Tselios N., Avouris N. (2008) Automated semantic elaboration of web site information architecture. Interacting with computers, 20 (6), p.p. 535-544, doi:10.1016/j.intcom.2008.08.002Katsanos C., Tselios N., Avouris N. (2008) AutoCardSorter: Designing the Information Architecture of a Web Site using Latent Semantic Analysis. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, CHI 2008 (pp. 875-878), Florence, Italy: ACM Press, April 5-10, 2008,Tselios N., Katsanos C., Avouris N. (2007) Beyond user centered design: A web design approach based on information foraging theory. In Proceedings of Workshop Are New Methods Needed in User-Centered System Design?, INTERACT 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10-14 September 2007AutoCardSorter – Structural Design

Katsanos C., Tselios N., Avouris N. (2008) Automated semantic elaboration of web site information architecture. Interacting with computers, 20 (6), p.p. 535-544, doi:10.1016/j.intcom.2008.08.002

Katsanos C., Tselios N., Avouris N. (2008) AutoCardSorter: Designing the Information Architecture of a Web Site using Latent Semantic Analysis. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, CHI 2008 (pp. 875-878), Florence, Italy: ACM Press, April 5-10, 2008,

Tselios N., Katsanos C., Avouris N. (2007) Beyond user centered design: A web design approach based on information foraging theory. In Proceedings of Workshop Are New Methods Needed in User-Centered System Design?, INTERACT 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10-14 September 2007

Method OverviewSemantic Similarity Measure (e.g. LSA)Hierarchical Clustering AlgorithmsPage Text DescriptionsSemantic Similarity MatrixInteractive Tree StructureAdditional SupportNumber of GroupsCross-Hierarchy Links

Tool InterfaceAdditional SupportInteractive Tree StructurePage Descriptions

4 Validation StudiesvsAutoCardSorterCardSorting

Katsanos C., Tselios N., Avouris N. (under revision A). Evaluating Website Navigability: Validation of a Tool-based Approach through Two Eye-tracking User Studies, New Review of Hypermedia & MultimediaTselios N., Katsanos C., Avouris N. (2009). Investigating the Effect of Hyperlink Information Scent on Users’ Interaction with a Web Site. In Proceedings of the 12th IFIP TC13 Conference in Human-Computer Interaction, INTERACT 2009, LNCS 5727, Part II (pp. 138-142), Uppsala, Sweden: Springer Verlag, August 24-28, 2009. Tselios N., Katsanos C., Avouris N. (2007) Beyond user centered design: A web design approach based on information foraging theory. In Proceedings of Workshop Are New Methods Needed in User-Centered System Design?, INTERACT 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10-14 September 2007Katsanos C., Tselios N., Avouris N., (2006). InfoScent Evaluator: A semi-automated tool to evaluate hyperlinks’ semantic appropriateness of a web site. In Proceedings of OZCHI 2006 (pp. 373 – 376). Sydney: ACM Press.ISEtool – Links’ Labeling

Katsanos C., Tselios N., Avouris N. (under revision A). Evaluating Website Navigability: Validation of a Tool-based Approach through Two Eye-tracking User Studies, New Review of Hypermedia & Multimedia

Tselios N., Katsanos C., Avouris N. (2009). Investigating the Effect of Hyperlink Information Scent on Users’ Interaction with a Web Site. In Proceedings of the 12th IFIP TC13 Conference in Human-Computer Interaction, INTERACT 2009, LNCS 5727, Part II (pp. 138-142), Uppsala, Sweden: Springer Verlag, August 24-28, 2009.

Tselios N., Katsanos C., Avouris N. (2007) Beyond user centered design: A web design approach based on information foraging theory. In Proceedings of Workshop Are New Methods Needed in User-Centered System Design?, INTERACT 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10-14 September 2007

Katsanos C., Tselios N., Avouris N., (2006). InfoScent Evaluator: A semi-automated tool to evaluate hyperlinks’ semantic appropriateness of a web site. In Proceedings of OZCHI 2006 (pp. 373 – 376). Sydney: ACM Press.

Method Overview“Information Scent” = Semantic Similarity Measure (e.g. LSA)ParserNavigability Issues Evaluated Web PagePage Level Competing Links Weak Scent Unfamiliar WordsLinks Properties TableUserGoal in TextSite Level‘Bad’ Scent Trail

Tool InterfaceUser goalInternal BrowserLinks Properties TableWeak Scent Link

2 Validation Eye-Tracking Studies

Advantages of proposed tool-based approachCost-effective (time & resources)Explore alternative solutions earlySimple to learn and applyEasy to apply for large sites (>100)Can be easily incorporated in popular web development IDEsValuable for sites that have totally unfamiliar domain to the practitioner Possibility for wider adoptionComplementary to user-based methods

http://hci.ece.upatras.gr Download papers related to the research presentedAsk to try out the toolsComments, Feedback or any Inquiriesckatsanos@ece.upatras.grThank you!

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