In search of personal information: narrative-based interfaces

ABSTRACT

Most computer users find organizing large amounts of personal information problematic. Often, hierarchies are the sole means to do it. However, users can remember a broader range of autobiographic contextual data about their personal items. Unfortunately, it can seldom be used to manage and retrieve them. Even when this is possible, it is often done by asking users to fill in values for arbitrary properties in dialog boxes or wizards.

We propose that narrative-based interfaces can be a natural and effective way to help users recall relevant autobiographic data about their personal items and convey it to the computer. Using Quill, a narrative-based personal document retrieval interface, as a case-study, we show how such an interface can be designed. We demonstrate the approach's validity based on a set of user studies, discussing how the problems raised by the evaluation of such an interface were overcome.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.3 Information Search and Retrieval

Keywords:
document retrieval, narrative-based interfaces, personal information management