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Search is the New Black: How Millennials Find Informa2on Online Miranda Hunt User Research Group EBSCO InformaAon Services Boston UXPA May 15, 2015
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Search is the New Black: How Millennials Find Informa2on Online
Miranda Hunt User Research Group EBSCO InformaAon Services Boston UXPA May 15, 2015
IntroducAon
This talk will discuss how college-‐age users find informa2on in the digital age. It’s based on a combina2on of our own primary research and secondary research. We will be examining what they actually do when they set out to find informa2on, as well as how to provide a user experience that will support them in their online ac2vi2es.
What we’ll talk about
What design features help (or hinder) students’ online search ac2vi2es, and how can interface design support students in their online tasks?
What do we know about this group of users?
How does this group find informa2on online? What are their expectaAons?
What roles do the search box and results page play?
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CharacterisAcs of Millennials
Digital naAves … NOT technology wizards.
• This group avoids web elements that are perceived as unknown for
fear of was2ng 2me. • They don’t like to learn new interface styles…they prefer well-‐
known interacAon paXerns. • If they don’t perceive an immediate payoff for their efforts, they
won’t:
– click on a link – fix an error – read detailed instruc2ons
From College Students on the Web (Loranger, McCloskey, Nielsen)
What else do we know?
• They are self-‐service, and they have a great deal of confidence in their ability to do it on their own.
• They expect technology of every sort to work “properly” at all 2mes.
• They are search dominant.
How do Millennials search for informa2on online?
“Google knows exactly the kind of thing I am looking for.”
-‐-‐Rice University student
Students almost always start their online searches on Google, and they oSen do
“presearch” on Wikipedia.
What do they do on web pages?
When using other websites, users in this group expect a search box…and they almost always start with it.
BUT students don’t understand how to construct search queries,
and they don’t understand how to employ advanced search.
This group has been trained by • They expect a Google-‐type interface and Google-‐type results sorAng/ranking.
• If they can’t find what they’re looking for, they assume their search is flawed and try again. Or, they decide there’s nothing “out there” and give up.
• They put complete trust in the ranking of the search results, and…
…they don’t go past the first page.
Search behavior
• They almost always use simple keyword searches.
• They don’t want to have to make too many decisions.
• They are fearful of limi2ng their search results too much and tend not to use all the filters offered.
Poor search tac2cs = Poor results
• Foraging • Google dependence • Reliance on single search strategy • Habitual topic-‐changing • Overuse of natural language and search stringing
Problems associated with search tac2cs employed by students
• Students are de facto “outsourcing” much of the evaluaAon process to the search engine itself.
• Too many, or too few, results.
The results page
• They only look at the first page, usually only the first few results.
• They skim the page…no detailed reading is happening here.
• They are looking for their keywords in the result 2tles.
• They are trusAng the search engine to provide them with what they’re looking for.
So, to recap:
What do Millennials actually DO when searching for informa2on online?
Search tac2cs and the search box
• They go to Google first. • They almost exclusively use the search box on web pages.
• They use keyword search, with an over-‐reliance on exploratory queries and natural language.
The results page
• They scan for their keywords in 2tles in the results, and make a decision about relevance within seconds.
• They start a new search from the results page, rather than clicking past the first page of results.
• They revise their search terms repeatedly to get the results they want.
Now what?
• Search: Make it work.
– NN/g: “Design the search box to be painfully recognizable”. Include a simple search box on the top of every page.
• Make sure results are relevant and ranked appropriately. Search algorithms should support student behavior and lead students to the informa2on they’re aSer.
Addi2onal search recommenda2ons
Allow for typos and spelling errors. Provide search suggestions.
Repeat the user’s query in an editable search box.
Make search filters simple.
What else?
Other design recommenda2ons:
– Keep websites simple, clean, and easy to scan. – Don’t try to be cute or fancy. – Follow established models for site naviga2on. – Watch tone and reading level.
h^ps://readability-‐score.com/
Easy search + Smart results = a place
in the Millennial digital domain
Bibliography • Asher, A. (2011). Search Magic: Discovering How Undergraduates Locate
Informa2on. Paper Presenta2on, American Anthropological Associa2on Annual Mee2ng.
• Asher, A., Duke, L., & Wilson, S. (2013). Paths of Discovery: Comparing the Search Effec2veness of EBSCO Discovery Service, Summon, Google Scholar, and Conven2onal Library Resources. College & Research Libraries, 74(5), 464-‐488.
• Bloom, B. S., & Deyrup, M. (2012). The Truth Is Out: How Students REALLY Search. Proceedings of the Charleston Library Conference.
• Dalal, H. A., Kimura, A. K., Hofmann, M. A. (2015). Searching in the Wild: Observing Informa2on-‐Seeking Behavior in a Discovery Tool. American Library Associa2on.
• Foster, N. F., & Gibbons, S. L. (Eds.). (2007). Studying students: The undergraduate research project at the University of Rochester. Assoc of Cllge & Rsrch Libr.
• Foster, N.F. (Ed.) (2014). ParBcipatory Design in Academic Libraries: New Reports and Findings. Council on Library and Informa2on Resources.
• Loranger, H., McCloskey, M., & Nielsen, J. College Students (Ages 18-‐24) on the Web. 2nd Edi2on.
