Exploring information-triage: Speculative interface tools to help college students conduct online research

Abstract

In many ways, the promise of the Internet has been overshadowed by a sense of overload and anxiety for many users. The concept of information-triage may help mitigate this issue. Information-triage is the process of sorting, grouping, categorizing, prioritizing, storing and retrieving information in order to make sense and use of it. This study examines the role of design in the online search process, connects it to the nature of human attention and the limitations of working memory, and suggests ways to support users with an information triage system. The study centers on a set of three speculative online search interfaces and user-testing sessions conducted with college students to explore the possibilities for information-triage. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.