The Effect of Ordering Webpage Results Based on Category
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.113.6227&rep=rep1&type=pdf
This article was written in 2000 when there was a great need to develop organization on the web so that users may find the relevant information they need quickly. In particular, this study analyzed how helpful organizing website links into a hierarchical structure based on category was to users. The study first analyzed how the order of links should be presented to users, and then looked at how well this order fit the users’ needs. In this way, users were able to view page options based on category, and eliminate or emphasize categories based on their needs or requirements. The advantage of this approach was realized through the ordering of links. Task-relevant webpages was carefully sorted to the top, using known and consistent information from the control group.
In connection to class, this paper analyzed how the order of webpages affects the efficacy of an arbitrary search engine. By manipulating the order of webpages returned (categorical vs. list), helpfulness of search engine responses to users was quantified. While this paper does not make reference to the difference between a general or broad search versus a very specific search, it showed conclusions that users strongly preferred sorted webpages based on category for identifying helpful material. However, further research should be focused on how these categories themselves should be ordered. Also, it should not go unnoted that up to 40% of responses were defined as “Not Categorized,” and therefore were omitted from analysis.