Query Suggestions as Summarization in Exploratory Search

Abstract

Query suggestions have been shown to benefit users performing information retrieval tasks. In exploratory search, however, users may lack the necessary domain knowledge to assess the relevance of query suggestions with respect to their information needs. In this article, we investigate the use of alternative queries in exploratory search. Alternative queries are queries that would retrieve similar search results to those currently visible on-screen. They are independent of the original search query and can, therefore, be updated dynamically as users scroll through search results. In addition to being follow-on queries, alternative queries serve as keyword summaries of the current search results page to help users assess whether results are inline with their search intents. We investigated the use of alternative queries in scientific literature search and their impact on user behavior and perception. In a user study, participants inspected half as many documents per query when alternative queries were present, but were exposed to over 40% more search results overall. Despite using them extensively as follow-on queries, user feedback focused on the summarization properties offered by alternative queries; finding it reassuring that documents were relevant to their search goals.