Improving Mobile Web Search by Clustering and Visualizing Search Engine Results

Abstract

The search engine makes vast amounts of information available to mobile users. Despite increasing use of mobile search engines, the mobile web search remains ineffective mainly due to the intensive scrolling inherent in the current presentation of search engine results (SERs) on the small screen of handheld devices. In this study, we proposed to improve the presentation of mobile SERs through clustering and visualization. Based on the cognitive load theory and information foraging theory, we proposed hypotheses about the possible effects of visualization and synchronous presentation of SERs and their clusters on user search performance. To test the hypotheses, we implemented five mobile web search prototypes, and evaluated the prototypes by conducting lab experiments.